y 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

©H- ©npiirig^l tl^.f. 



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LNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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^Longmans' Bn^Usb Classics 

7 

DANIEL WEBSTER'S 
FIRST BUNKER HILL ORATION 

TOGETHER WITH OTHER ADDRESSES 
RELATING TO THE REVOLUTION 

EDITED 

WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION 



FEED NEWTON SCOTT, Ph.D. 

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIOAN 




OF 



C%ffy 



w^ 



NOV 9 jiSS 



^::?^<ia^ 



NEW YORK 
LOKGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. 

AND LONDON 
1895 



\ " - 






COPTRIOHT. 1896 

BY 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 



TROW OIRCCTORV 

POINTING AND BOOKBIn6iNO COMMMT 

New YORK 



PREFACE 

In" the uniform entrance requirements now generally 
adopted by our colleges^ Webster's "First Bunker Hill 
Oration "is placed among the books which are to be "care- 
fully studied under the immediate direction of the teach- 
er." It is with the purpose of marking out distinct lines 
for such study that this edition of Webster's famous speech 
has been prepared. Three others of Webster's best-known 
orations, dealing with kindred topics, have been added, 
that pupils' training may not, unless it is absolutely neces- 
sary, be confined to the single oration prescribed. 

F. N. S. 
University of Michigan, September, 1895. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction ix 

Suggestions for Teachers xxvi 

Specimen Examination Papers xxxv 

Chronological Table xl 

Orations 

The Bunker Hill Monument 1 

The Completion of the Banker Hill Monument . . . 27 

Adams and Jefferson 59 

The Character of Washington 104 

General Note 

A. . Suggestions to Students ....... 121 

B. Subjects for Essays 134 



INTRODUCTION 



I. Biography 



Dan'IEL AYebster was born on the 18tli of January, 1782, 
and died on the 24th of October, 1852. We may say that 
his life covers one distinct period of the nation's life, for 
he was born in the year when Great Britain recognized the 
independence of the United States, and he died in the 
year of ^' Uncle Tom's Cabin,'' the year when anti-slavery 
sentiment was gathering headway for the inevitable colli- 
sion of the Civil War. 

Of this period Webster is the great representative. 
There were men among his contemporaries who were 
better, wiser, more original, more popular than he, but 
there was no one in this period who in so many fields of 
activity, as lawyer, statesman, and orator, can rightfully 
claim so large a share of our attention. 

Webster's native place was Salisbury, ]^ew Hampshire. 
His early life was passed upon his father's farm. Iii 1797, 
with very little preparation, he entered Dartmouth College, 
from which he was graduated in 1801. Until he reached 
his junior year he gave small promise of the powers he 
afterward developed. We' read with astonishment in his 
'^ Autobiography," that while a youth he was never able to 
''^ speak a piece " before the school. After the first two 
years at Dartmouth, however, he came rapidly forward, 
and by the close of the junior year was esteemed the best 
writer and debater in the College. 

Shortly after his graduation, Webster entered upon the 



X INTRODUCTION 

study of the law in tlie office of Christopher Gore, a lead- 
ing attorney of Boston. He was making rapid progress 
when suddenly, midway of his studies, came one of those 
accidents which make or mar a young man's fortunes. He 
was offered a position as clerk in the Court of Common 
Pleas, near his home, at a salary of fifteen hundred 
dollars. He was deeply in debt, his father was old, and 
the family estate, mortgaged to pay his college expenses, 
was heavily encumbered. "I had felt," he says, ^^the 
res an(jnxt(P till my bones ached.'' To accept the place 
meant comfort, a competency, and respite from the long, 
hard struggle. But, as Mr. Gore pointed out to him, it 
meant also the death of his ambitions ; he would be a 
clerk for life. Convinced by the arguments of the attor- 
ney, he resolved to refuse the offer, and with many mis- 
givings went home to break the news to his father. What 
hap2)ened may be told in his own words : 

'' I got home one afternoon, just at sunset, and saw my 
father in his little room, sitting in his arm-chair. He was 
pretty old then, and tall, and very thin. His face was 
pale, and his cheek sunken, and his eyes — which were 
always large and very black — seemed larger and blacker 
than I ever saw them. He seemed glad to see me, and, 
almost as soon as I sat down he said : ' Well, Daniel, we 
have got that office for you.' 'Yes, father,' said I, 'the 
gentlemen were very kind, I must go and thank them ! ' 
' They gave it to you witliout my saying a word about it.' 
'I must go and see Judge Farrar, and tell him I am much 
obliged to him.' And sf> I talked about it very carelessly, 
and tried to make my father understand me. At last he 
began to have some suspicion of what I meant ; and he 
straightened himself up in his cliMir, and looked at me as 
if he would look me through. ' Daniel, Daniel,' said he, 
'don't you mean to take tliat office?' 'No, indeed, 
father,' said I ; 'I li<4>r I can do much better than that. 



INTRODUCTION xi 

I mean to use my tongue in the courts, not my pen ; to be 
an actor, not a register of other men^s acts. I hope yet, 
sir, to astonish your honor in your own court by my pro- 
fessional attainments/ 

" For a moment I thought he was angry. He rocked his 
chair, slightly ; a flash went over an eye, softened by age, 
but still as black as jet ; but it was gone, and I thought I 
saw that parental partiality was, after all, a little gratified 
at this apparent devotion to an honorable profession, and 
this seeming confidence of success in it. He looked at me 
for as much as a minute, and then said very slowly, ' Well, 
my son, your mother has always said you would come to 
something or nothing. She was not sure which ; I think 
you are now about settling that doubt for her.' This he 
said, and never a word spoke more to me on the subject.'"^ 

Admitted to the bar in 1805,he went to Boscawen, near his 
honie, to practise ; but he soon outgrew that little village, 
and upon the death of his father, who lived barely long 
enough to hear his first speech at the bar, he transferred 
his business to his brother and removed to Portsmouth. 
He now came into almost daily competition with the leading 
lawyers of the State, and his powers grew apace. The head 
of the New Hampshire bar at this time was one Jeremiah 
Mason, a man of great ability. He has recorded his first 
encounter with young Webster: "He broke upon me like 
a thunder shower in July, sudden, portentous, sweeping- 
all before it.'' But, in his own way. Mason was as good a 
lawyer as Webster, and exerted a powerful influence upon 
him. In particular, he taught him the value of plain, 
homely speech. Webster at the outset of his career was 
given to a flowery diction, and to a manner that bordered 
dangerously on the theatrical. Mason was plain, simple, 
and direct. But it was the plain-spoken Mason who 
always won the suit. As Webster said, he was " a cause- 
' Curtis : Life of Webster, vol. i. , p. 72. 



xii INTRODUCTION 

getting man." ^' He had a habit of standing quite near to 
the jury, so near that he might have laid liis finger on the 
foreman's nose ; and then he talked to them in a plain, 
conversational way, in short sentences, and using no word 
that was not level to the comprehension of the least edu- 
cated man on the jmnel. This led me to examine my own 
style, and I set about reforming it altogether." 

In 1817, feeling that he needed still wider ojiiDortunities, 
Webster removed to Boston. Meanwhile he had been 
drawn into the current of national politics. As early as 
1804, while yet a student in Mr. Gore's office, he had pub- 
lished a pamphlet entitled ^^An A2)iieal to Old Whigs." 
In 1808, in another pamphlet, he had inveighed against 
the embargo. But these, being anonymous, had not 
lielped to bring their author into prominence. His op- 
portunity came in 1812, when in the " Rockingham Me- 
morial " he made a spirited and able argument against the 
war with England. The document attracted wide-spread 
interest, and led almost immediately to Webster's election 
to Congress. His rise in influence was now rapid. Some 
ingenious resolutions directed against the foreign policy of 
President Madison brought him prominently before the 
country, and being re-elected, he came back in 181-4 the 
recognized leader of his party in the House. Again he 
made himself conspicuous, this time principally by his 
speeches on finance. In 1817 he tried to withdraw from 
politics, as he said, forever. He determined thereafter to 
devote himself to the law. But, for a man of Webster's 
abilities, this was simply out of the question. ** As I was 
sitting in my office, poring over Mansfield and Blackstone. 
in tlie autumn of 1822, there came a committee to nu'. 
They did not look like clients. I did not believe they had 
any lawsuits. Thomas H. Perkins was chairman. An- 
other of the members is now living — ^Ir. William Sturgis — 
and they stood up straight in my presence. I threw down 



INTBODUGTION xiil 

my law books, and they said : ' Sir, we have come to tell yon 
yonr destiny. Yon mnst give np these law books. We come 
to tell yon that, on Monday next, yon will be chosen to rep- 
resent the city of Boston in the Congress of the United 
States. We come to make no reqnest, we come to enter 
into no discussion, we take no answer ;" and Colonel Perkins 
made a graceful bow, and, with his committee, went off.^^^ 

Webster accepted the nomination, and from this date to 
the close of his life never again put off the political 
harness. Transferred to the Senate in 1827, he attained 
three years later, in the debate with Hayne, the very sum- 
mit of his renown. In 1841, President Harrison called 
him to the Cabinet as Secretary of State, and he held over 
under President Tyler until 1843. The next year he was 
elected Senator, but in 1850 he was again appointed Secre- 
tary of State, a position which he held in 1852, when at 
the age of seventy, his public career and his life came to a 
close together. 

From 1830 Webster was looked upon as a possible can- 
didate for the presidency. He eagerly desired the nomi- 
nation, and his failure to obtain it embittered the closing 
years of his life. 

As a lawyer, Webster^s name is associated with many 
noted cases, but with none of more wide-reaching conse- 
quences than the Dartmouth College case. The occasion 
of this suit was as follows : ^ The president of Dartmouth 
College quarrelled with the trustees and was dismissed 
from office. By way of revenge he went over to the op- 
posite political party — the Democrats — and brought about 
the election of a Democratic legislature. To pay their 
political debt, the legislature set aside the colonial charter 
of the College, passed a bill turning the College into a 
State university and provided for a new board of trustees ; 

^ Speech at a Public Eeception in Boston, 1852. 

2 1 follow here the narrative of Lodge, Daniel Webster^ Chap. iii. 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

whereupon the old board, composed of Federalists, brought 
suit against the new board, composed of Democrats, to 
recover the College seal and other property. The case 
was carried up to the Supreme Court, and here, in 1818, 
Webster, on behalf of the old board of trustees, made his 
famous speech. As it happened, the Chief-Justice, John 
Marshall, was a leading Federalist. Webster took advan- 
tage of this fact, and by introducing the political aspects 
of the case, but doing it so delicately and adroitly that 
no suspicion was aroused, won the entire sympathy of 
the Chief-Justice and ultimately of a majority of the 
court. As a result Marshall wrote one of his great deci- 
sions, in which, embodying a minor point of Webster's 
argument, he maintained that charters granted to private 
corporations are contracts within the meaning of the con- 
stitution,^ and therefore cannot be set aside by the legis- 
lature of a State.'^ By this decision more than by any 
other ever made, the powers of the several States were 
limited and those of the Federal Courts extended. 

As a statesman, Webster exerted a powerful influence 
upon congressional legislation and public sentiment. His 
congressional speeches upon finance, upon the tariff, upon 
the Constitution, and upon the extension of slavery, were 
in liis time, and are now, recognized as signal events in 
American history and substantial additions to American 
literature. The greatest of these speeches was the '' Ee- 
ply to Ilayne." It was the outcome of a controversy as 
old as the Union itself, witli regard to the powers of the 
several States under the Federal Constitution. Three dif- 
ferent views had been held by political leaders, and by 

' "No State . . . slmll pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto 
law, or law impairing tlie obligation of contracts. " — U. S. Constitu- 
tion, Art. I.. Sec. X. 

' The con.stitutional point, oddly enough, originated with the de- 
posed president, who was thn>i '' )i.vi<f witli In^; own i>Htard.' 



INTRODUCTION xv 

them impressed upon the public mind. According to one 
view^ held by Jefferson and Madison, and embodied in the 
"Virginia Resolutions/^ the States are merely parties to a 
compact — the Constitution. In case the central govern- 
ment oversteps the powers conferred by the States upon 
it in the compact, the States, acting in unison, have the 
right to interfere and assert their original sovereignty. 
This doctrine, as set forth in the '' Virginia Resolutions," 
was comparatively harmless, for the States were expected 
in taking remedial measures to act in concord ; there was 
no thought of a disruption of the Union. ^ But by others, 
especially by Senator Calhoun, of South Carolina, it was 
given a new and an extreme interpretation. In the view 
of these men, each State has the sovereign right, in 
the absence of any higher authority, to judge for itself 
whether congressional legislation encroaches on its powers. 
Legislation offensive to the State may be '' nullified '' or 
declared of no effect within its borders. If this measure 
fails, the State has the right to secede from the Union. 
These views having been advocated on the floor of the 
Senate by Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, AVebster 
spoke in opposition to them in a speech remarkable for its 
logic, its satire, its pathos, its elevation of sentiment — in 
sliort, for every good quality that a speech can possess. 
To the views of Hayne he opposed the " national " view, 
that the States in 1787 were welded into a nation by the 
adoption of the Constitution and were thenceforward one 
and indivisible. This view was not original with him. 
It was an early tradition strengthened and made clear by 
the decisions of Chief-Justice Marshall. It was not, in- 
deed, the correct view, for our oneness as a nation is de- 
pendent, not u]oon a written document, but upon the de- 

' This is not the common view. I have adopted here the opinion 
expressed by Judge T. M. Cooley, in a recent address on the Web- 
ster-Hayne Debate. 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

velopment of a natioiicil spirit. Bat whether it was orig- 
inal or not, or whether it was correct or not, the *' Keply 
to Hayne " drove it deep into tlie feelings and understand- 
ings of the great mass of the American people ; so that 
tlie war of arms which thirty years later followed the war 
of words, found the sentiment of the majority upon the 
side of union. 

At various times throughout his life Webster was called 
upon to make commemorative or occasional addresses. 
While he was yet a student at Dartmouth, in 18U0, he was 
invited by the people of the town of Hanover to deliver 
an oration on the Fourth of July. Nine years later, be- 
fore the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Dartmouth, he spoke 
on " The State of our Literature," giving reasons why 
America should be a centre of literary activity. But these 
and similar efforts attracted little attention. The address 
whicli established his reputation in tliis style of oratory 
was that whicli goes by the title of *' The First Settlement 
of Xew England,'" delivered at Plymouth in 1820. John 
Adams, himself no mean orator, pronounced it finer than 
anything of Burke's, and 'lie had listened to Burke. And 
George Ticknor, a foremost man of letters of the time and 
a competent critic, wrote that he was ^* never so excited by 
public speaking before in his life." ** When I came out," 
he says, " I was almost afraid to come near him. It 
seemed to me as if he was like the mount that might not 
be touched and that burned with fire." 

Five years later, with somewhat less of youthful exu- 
berance, but with greater command of his resources, Web- 
ster wrote and delivered the " First Bunker Hill Oration." 
It may scciii strange to some that he rated this speech, 
when he had linished the composition of it, as little better 
than a failui-e. The o])ening was not to his taste ; he wa- 
satisfied with nothing exeept the address to the veterans. 
To a friend he \vn»tc as I'dlhtws : 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

^^I did the deed this morning, i.e., I finished my 
speech ; and I am pretty well persuaded it is a speech that 
^\S\fin%8li me, as far as reputation is concerned. There is 
no more tone in it than in the weather in which it has 
been written; it is '^perpetual dissolution and thaw/^"^ 
He was wholly mistaken. The address was not only 
brilliantly successful on the immediate occasion, but went 
through edition after edition, and was translated into 
many languages. If we except Lincoln's Gettysburg ad- 
dress, the brevity of which makes comparison unfair, the 
''First Bunker Hill Oration'" is easily the first of com- 
memorative addresses, ancient or modern, American or 
English. 

A similar misgiving oppressed him with regard to the 
eulogy of Adams and Jefferson, delivered in 1826 ; and 
what strikes us now as most remarkable, is that he 
doubted the effectiveness of the two fictitious speeches 
which reproduce with fine dramatic effect the debates of 
the Continental Congress. '^ He was quite uncertain,'' he 
said to a friend, '' whether they were the best or the worst 
part of the discourse." Such mis judgments, however, are 
not uncommon on the part of famous writers, being simply 
evidences of the insatiable hunger for perfection which 
characterizes all great genius. 

''The Character of Washington," a speech in his best 
vein, belongs to 1832. In 1843 he gave the "Second 
Bunker Hill Oration," an address inferior in unity and 
spirit to the first — he was too old for such an occasion, he 
said — yet containing single passages of remarkable force 
and beauty. His last speech of this kind was at the laying 
of the corner-stone of the addition to the Capitol, in 1851. 

1 Curtis : Life of Webster, vol i., p. 251. 



xviii l^THOnUCTION 



II. Characteristics of Webster's Oratory. 

The effect of AVebster's oratory was due in part to liis 
appearance and manner of delivery, in part to his ideas, in 
part to the hmguage in which his thoughts were clothed. 
Each of these may be considered in turn. 

It was Webster's good fortune that in his outward per- 
son he was as near perfection as nature permits her chil- 
dren to go. " His very presence," said a Xew England 
writer Avho had no reason to love him, '^^ was an oration." 
" Mr. Webster had a natural ascendency of aspect and car- 
riage," writes Emerson, '^ which distinguished him over 
all his contemporaries. His countenance, his figure, and 
his manners were all in so grand a style, that he was, with- 
out etfort, as superior to his most eminent rivals as they 
were to the humblest."^ 

He had in full measure the indefinable quality known as 
personal magnetism, so that literally, by a smile, or a ges- 
ture, or by his mere presence, he could **hold cliildren 
from play and old men from the chimney corner." " Wlien 
he appeared in fState Street, slowly pacing, with an arm be- 
hind him, business was brought to an absolute standstill. 
As the whisper passed along, the windows filled with clerks, 
pen in mouth, ])eering out to catch a glimpse of the man 
whom they had seen fifty times before." ^ 

In stature Webster was not above the medium, though, 
with his massive limbs and stately carriage, he impressed 
everyone as a giant. He had straight black hair, eyes that 
glowed like embers under his jutting brows, and a com- 
plexion *' of burnt gunpowder." Ilis voice, we are told, 
was in volume and ([uality an instrument of marveUous 
pcrft'ctinii. " It was low and musical in convei'sation ; in 

' Tlie Fi/r/i'tii'c Sliivc Law. 

* Partou, ill the North American lieviexo, January, 18G7. 



INTRODUCriON xix 

debate it was high but full^ ringing out in moments of ex- 
citement like a clarion, and then sinking to deep notes 
with the solemn richness of organ-tones." ^ In his open- 
air addresses he could make himself heard to a greater dis- 
tance than any other speaker of whom we have trustworthy 
information. 

Upon almost all topics of j)ublic interest Webster had 
well-defined convictions, to which he gave in his speeches 
and correspondence almost daily utterance. They were in 
general, as we have seen, not original ideas. Nor, for a 
man in his position, was it necessary that they should be. 
^^A constitutional statesman," says Walter Bagehot, ^'^ is 
in general a man of common opinions and uncommon abil- 
ities." Webster had uncommon abilities for using the 
ideas of other men, and especially for divining and express- 
ing ^^ common opinions," ideas held by tlie people at large 
but not yet come to utterance. As a voice for the com- 
monalty he gave expression in his speeches to three leading 
sentiments : one was. Our nation_Jias.A.great past which 
has made us what we are ; the second. The Union must be 
maintained at whatever cost ; the third, AVe have a sure and 
splendid future. By dwelling upon the first, as in the two 
Bunker Hill addresses, Webster did much to establish in 
the public mind what is termed the ^Hiistoric conscious- 
ness," an abiding sense that our national life has its roots 
in the past and is a continuous growth. His belief in the 
Union amounted to a passion. ^' Union," he said, in the 
second Bunker Hill address, ^'^has been the source of all 
our glory and greatness thus far, and is the ground of all 
our highest hopes ; "and there are few speeches in his col- 
lected works in which this sentiment does not appear. 
His hopes in the future were as strong as his reverence for 
the past. He was an optimist ; that is, he had the convic- 
tion that the tendency of human events is toward good and 
^ Lodge : Daniel Webster, p. 193. 



XX INTRODUCTION 

not toTrard evil. He never doubted for an instant the 
permanence and the ultimate predominance of American 
ideas and institutions. The prophetic strain runs through 
all his speeches, and reaches a climax in his last great ad- 
dress, delivered but a year before his death. ^ 

In style, Webster was self -restrained, orderly, and direct. 
Emerson says of him : 

"He was so simple aud wise in liis rlietoric ; lie sasv through his 
matter, hugged his fact so close, went to the principle or essential, and 
never indulged in a weak flourish, though he knew perfectly how to 
make such exordiums, episodes, and perorations as might give perspec- 
tive to his harangues without in the least embarrassing his marcli or 
confounding his transitions. In his statement things lay in daylight ; 
we saw them in order as they were. Though he knew very well how 
to present his own personal claims, yet in his argument lie was intel- 
lectual, — stated his fact pure of all personality, so that his splendid 
wrath, when his eyes hecame lamias, was the wrath of the fact and 
the cause he stood for. 

"His power, like that of all great masters, was not in excellent 
parts, but was total. He had a great and everywhere equal propriety. 
He worked with that closeness of adhesion to the matter in hand 
which a joiner or a chemist uses, and the same quiet and sure feeling 
of right to his place that an oak or a mountain liave to theirs. After 
all his talents have been described, there remains that perfect pro- 
priety which animated all the details of his action or speech with the 
character of the whole, so that his beauties of detail are endless. He 
seemed born for the bar, born for the senate, and took very naturally 
a leading part in large private and public affairs ; for his head distrib- 
uted things in their right places, and what he saw so well he com- 
pelled other people to see also." - 

The orderliness of Webster's mind is oxliibitod in his 
paragraphing. With few exceptions, the topics of the par- 
agraplis are logical divisions of the theme, so that to write 
a list of paragraph-topics is to make an analysis of the 
oration. In the internal structure of the paragraph unity 

' The address at the laying of the corner-stone of the addition to the 
Capitol. 
'"* The FiKjiUve Slave Law. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

is carefully maintained. The principal thought is usually 
announced in the opening sentence, and is then developed 
in regular and natural sequence to the close. The reader 
should notice, however, that within the limits of the para- 
graph, Webster artfully varies the construction. Exces- 
sive parallelism, the common vice of oratorical composi- 
tions, is of rare occurrence. In the ^^ First Bunker Hill 
Oration,'^ there are but two paragraphs in which parallel 
construction is made prominent.^ In the remaining para- 
graphs it is alternated with other varieties of structure. 
Thus paragraph 4 opens with an inverted sentence, that is, 
a sentence in which the predicate comes before the subject. 
'' Nearer to our own times, more closely connected with 
our fates, and therefore still more interesting to our feel- 
ings and affections, is the settlement of our own country 
by colonists from England." Then follows, in a different 
type of sentence, a fine example of parallel construction. 
" We cherish every memorial of these worthy ancestors ; 
we celebrate their |)atience and fortitude ; we admire their 
daring enterprise ; we teach our children to venerate their 
piety ; and we are justly proud of being descended from 
men who have set the world an example of founding civil 
institutions on the great and united principles of human 
freedom and human knowledge." Here the parallelism, 
which is in danger of becoming monotonous, is interrupted 
by an inverted sentence : '' To us, their children, the story 
of their labors and sufferings can never be without its in- 
terest." The fourth sentence recurs to the structure of 
the second, though with a change of tense : ^^ We shall 
not stand unmoved on the shore of Plymouth," etc., but 
here the parallelism ceases ; the closing sentence is of a 
different type : " No vigor of youth, no maturity of man- 
hood, will lead the nation to forget the spots where its in- 
fancy was cradled and defended." 

' Paragraphs 7 and 44. 



xxil luSfTR OD UCTION 

The construction of Webster's sentences is simple and 
straightforward, so that an occasional complexity or siiljt- 
lety attracts an undue amount of attention. The follow- 
ing passage will illustrate this point : *' Men have seen 
that it (classical learning) might exist without mental 
superiority, without vigor, without good taste, and with- 
out utility. But in such cases classical learning has only 
not inspired natural talent."^ The words '^has only not 
inspired," which in Carlyle or De Quincey would be passed 
without remark, are in Webster's paragraph so different 
from his ordinary mode of expression as actually to arrest 
the reader's attention, and make him question whether he 
has read aright. 

In the placing of words and phrases Webster is so uni- 
formly accurate that if, now and then, he transgresses a 
precept of the text-books, the reader may well raise the 
question whether the precept is not at fault rather than the 
author. For example, there is a rule in most rhetorics 
that the word ''only" should immediately 2)recede the 
word it modifies. This rule is obviously violated in such 
sentences as the following : *' It did not, indeed, put an 
end to the war ; but, in the then existing hostile state of 
feeling, the difficulties could only be referred to the arbi- 
tration of the sword." ^ ^* Above personal considerations, 
above local considerations, above party considerations, he 
felt tluit he could only discharge^ the sacred trust which the 
country had placed in his hands by a diligent inquiry after 
real merit and a conscientious preference of virtue and 
talent."^ But it is the rule which is at fault, not Web- 
ster. The usage of good writers is to place " only " imme- 
diately before the word it modifies whenever another posi- 
tion would cause ambiguity ; in other cases its position is 

' Adams and Jefferson, paragraph G2. 
^Second Bunher Hill Oration, paragraph 22. 
' Character of Wan/ti/ic/tou, paragraph 20. 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

determined largely by the demands of rhythm. There is no 
ambiguity in the sentences quoted above. A more serious 
fault is the use of " but which/^ " and which/' when there 
is no relative preceding, as in the following example : 
'' You see the lines of the redoubt thrown up by the in- 
credible diligence of Prescott ; defended to the last ex- 
tremity by his lion-hearted valor ; and within which the 
corner-stone of our monument has now taken its position." ^ 
Yet in these cases it is clear that the words " thrown up " 
and ^^ defended" are equivalent to the clause ^^ which were 
thrown up/' and ^^ which were defended ; " nor is there any 
evidence that to a hearer or reader not consciously on the 
strain to detect formal errors of construction, this passage 
has ever given the least offence. 

In his selection and use of words Webster was painfully 
scrupulous. In purity of diction he is probably unsur- 
passed by any other writer, English or American. At the 
same time he was anything but squeamish about the origin 
of the words he used, and adopted freely the forcible 
idioms which he heard on the lips of the frontiersman. 
Although his orations show a large proportion of '^ long- 
tailed " words of Latin origin — as ''^recollections/' ^^pro- 
pensity/' ^'obligations/' '^ inheritance/' '^ responsibility/' 
''^ preservation/' '^^ generation/' '^ ingenuous/' '^ construc- 
tion/' " ejaculation/' all from paragraph 56 of the second 
Bunker Hill address — he preferred short Saxon words and 
made a conscious effort to employ them. 

Webster's self-restraint appears in his use of figures. Of 
bold and striking images he is in general sparing. His 
metaphors, in the main, are of that class which by constant 
use have been worn down into plain statements. More- 
over, he prefers what may be called the '^^ abstract" meta- 
phor, in which, while the metaphorical form is preserved, 
no definite picture is suggested to the imagination. He 
1 First Bunlcer Hill Oration, paragraph 25. 



XXIV INTRODUCTION 

may in this respect be profitably contrasted with Carlyle. 
Thus when Webster says that the French Revolution "has 
shaken to the centre her political fabric and dashed against 
one another thrones which have stood tranquil for ages," 
we feel the appropriateness of the figure, but have much 
difficulty in picturing to ourselves the shaken fabric and 
the jostling thrones. AVhen, however, Carlyle character- 
izes this same revolution as a " whole continent of smoking 
flax which blown on here or there by any angry wind might 
so easily start into a blaze, into a continent of fire," tlie 
scene is as vivid as if it Avere actually before our eyes. 

A peculiarity of Webster's style which is perhaps the 
first to strike the reader's attention, will here be considered 
last. . His prose has a well-marked rhythm. It rises and 
descends in a way to remind us of the rise and descent of 
a graceful bird as it passes through the air. A sentence, 
as we read, will mount by a succession of wing-beats to a 
certain elevation, and then, in similar fashion, will descend 
gently to the close. The following is a good example of this 
movement in a long sentence : " These thousands of human 
faces I glowing with sympatliy and joy | and from the im- 
pulses of a common gratitude | turned reverently to heaven 

I in this spacious temple of the firmament || proclaim that 
the day | the place | and the purpose of our assembling 

I have made a deep impression on our hearts."^ Some- 
times the rise is in one sentence, tlie descent in the next ; 
or the rise in a succession of sentences, the descent in an- 
other succession ; these variations giving to the movement 
a peculiar character too complex to be analyzed here, which 
for convenience may be called Websterian. In general 
this undulating movement of tlie sentence is wliolly natu- 
ral to Webster. Tlie '*long, rolling, rhythmical wave-pro- 
cession " in the writing is the outward sign of a long, roll- 
' The siiiele vertical lines indicate tlie stages of the rise and descent ; 
*he double lines, the point of greatest elevation. 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

ing rhythmical thought-procession in the writer. But not 
always so. There come passages now and then when the 
majestic tread of the solemn period marks time without ad- 
vancing. An example occurs in the first Bunker Hill ad- 
dress : '' Mind is the great lever of all things ; human 
thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately 
answered ; and the diffusion of knowledge, so astonishing 
in the last half -century, has rendered innumerable minds, 
variously gifted by nature, competent to be competitors oi- 
fellow-workers on the theatre of intellectual operation.'^ 
Tut such passages are rare. 

To beginners the temptation to imitate the Websterian 
movement in their orations is well-nigh irresistible. Once 
they have caught the trick of Webster^s rhythm they fancy 
they have surprised the secret of his style. But he who 
writes successfully in the Websterian rhythm must be him- 
self a Webster. The student whose mind is not obviously 
akin to Webster^s mind, whose thoughts do not come in 
long, rolling waves, will find it best, after a few trials and 
experiments, to cultivate a rhythm of his own. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS 

In preparing the present volume, the first of the series 
of books for '• study/^ the editor lias had one aim in com- 
mon with the editors of books for " reading,'^ and one aim 
that is different from theirs. Like them he has m;i\e 
some attempt to lead the student on to read other works — 
in this case, other orations — of the same sort and of cog- 
nate sorts ; but, bearing in mind that this is a book to be 
studied, not simply to be read, he has endeavored less to 
throw information in the student's way — the task of jire- 
ceding editors — than to show the latter how, and from 
what sources, he may get information for himself. In 
pursuance of both these aims — but especially of the second 
— the editor now offers^ in the following paragraphs, a few 
suggestions as to a proper metliod of study — suggestions 
which he ventures to address to experienced teachers only 
because, in the present state of interest in the subject, 
every chance hint is sure of attentive and charitable con- 
sideration. 

I. The first t:isk assigned the \m\n\ should be to read 
the oration as a whole. The readini,^ sliould be of a kind 
wiiicl). for want of a better tenii. may l)e called iiii<ff/ifii(- 
/irc : tliat is, the pupil should picture the scene to him- 
self as he goes along, and should try to call up in imagina- 
tion such particulars as the orator's Mp[)c;irance, the sound 
of his voice, and the effect, upon the audience, of each 
striking passage. If the oration can he read at home — 
and this is generally to l)e preferred — the pupil should be 
advised to read aloud. He should be advised also to finish 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS xxvii 

it at one sitting, for then the impression which he carries 
away from it is more likely to have unity and complete- 
ness. 

For reading of this kind no special preparation is re- 
quired. The judicious teacher will help his pupils realize 
the circumstances under which the oration was delivered, 
and will thus endeavor to awake in them some degree of 
curiosity. But beyond this point he will not choose to go. 
He will be especially careful not to ^forestall his pupilsMm- 
pressions by elaborate criticism or to wear out their interest 
by unimportant details of biography. As soon as he feels 
that they are eager to begin, he will step aside and leave 
them to tlie oration and their instincts. 

II. Notwithstanding the informality of this first exer- 
cise, its results should be carefully tested in the class-room. 
By requiring of the pupils brief, impromptu essays or ver- 
bal reports, the teacher should assure himself that each 
member of the class has actually read the whole oration, 
has obtained a general notion of its plan and. contents, and 
has appreciated in some measure the peculiar qualities of 
the style. The desired information may be drawn out 
from the pupils by asking questions like the following : 
What parts of the .oration do you remember most dis- 
tinctly ? What parts do you think are the best, and why 
do you think they are the best ? What is the leading idea 
of the opening ? What the leading idea of the close ? 
What is the most important idea of the whole oration ? 
Does the oration prove anything ? Can you see any dif- 
ference between the style of Webster and the style of Ir- 
ving (or of any other author that has been read) ? What 
effect do you think such and such a passage had upon the 
audience ? The answers to questions like these will not 
only reveal the spirit in which the oration has been read, 
but will put into the hands of the teacher suggestions for 
the further conduct of the course. 



XXYIU SUCrGKSTIOXS FOR TEACH hJHS 

III. When, by the means suggested above, the teacher 
has made certain that his pupils have obtained a broad, 
general survey of the oration, he should pass to a study of 
its 2)lan and structure. First, in this part of the work, 
should come the deduction of the theme or working-idea. 
This may, indeed, be given, but there is a distinct advan- 
tage in drawing it out from the pupils themselves, by the 
following or a similar method. 

Selecting a number of important passages, the teacher 
reads them one by one to the class, inquiring after each : 
" What is Webster talking about in this passage ? AVhat 
does he mean ? AVhat is he driving at ? " The answei'fe 
are written upon the board in tlie form of comjjlete sen- 
tences. When all have been thus written, the teacher 
asks, '' Can't you boil these sentences down into one sen- 
tence ? Isn't there some one thing that Webster is talk- 
ing about through the whole course of the oration ? " 
From the answers to these last questions it will generally 
be possible to educe a provisional theme. The exact theme 
may now be given, or better, the pupil may be required to 
construct it for himself from the provisional theme by a 
re-reading of the entire oration. To illustrate this method 
of instruction, let us consider briefly the fourth of the 
orations in this volume. In response to questions regard- 
ing the underlying idea of various passages from '* The 
Cluiracter of Washington," the following answers miglit 
be expected : " Washington's example has had a great in- 
fluence " (paragraph G) ; ^' Washington did a great deal to 
establisli jjopular government" (pars. 0, 10) : " Wasliiiig- 
ton's influence has extended over tlie wliolo woi-ld " (j)ars. 
12, 13) ; ^^ The princii^les of Washington's adininisli-atioii 
were riglit " (par. 17) ; '* Wasliington's example will ])rc- 
serve the Union" (pars. 34, 35). Putting those together, 
|iiii)i]s would probably suggest, as the idi'a underlying them 
all, sui'h HciitiiiK'iits as the followini^^ : " \V;ishinL'"ton was 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS xxix 

a great man ]" " Washington was a good man and a great 
statesman '^" " Washington's example has made the whole 
world better ;" " The prosperity of the United States is 
the result of Washington's statesmanship." From these a 
provisional theme could readily be drawn. 

IV. Passing now to a consideration of the plan, the 
teacher should call attention to the organic character ^ of 
the oration-^'' the method of evolution — the proportions, 
the relations of the parts to the whole.'" ^ He should ex- 
plain the nature of the large divisions, indicated in this 
volume by Roman numerals, and should require the lead- 
ing thought of each division to be expressed in a brief, 
carefully worded sentence. By throwing all these sentences 
together, and using them as an outline, he should then try 
to make it clear that the themes of the large divisions grow 
naturally from the general idea of the oration. The order 
of divisions should be commented upon, and tlie pupil 
should be led to the conviction that their arrangement, 
far from being the result of chance, is a sequence de- 
manded by the onward movement of the writer's thought. 

V. The paragraphs should be studied as members of di- 
visions. The pupil should be made to see that in a given 
division each paragraph belongs in the place where it is : 
that in that place it performs a necessary function ; that if 
it be omitted, or shifted to another place, the unity and 
sequence of the division will be seriously disturbed. It is 
also important that the internal structure of the paragraph 
receive careful attention. The pupil should be made 
familiar with the results of recent studies of this subject, 

' " The teacher should bear in mind that any body of written Eng- 
lish, of whatever length, is an organic unit, with principles that apply 
as well to the arrangement of the minor elements as to the grouping 
of larger divisions of the essay or hoo^." —Report of the Committee on 
Secondary School Studies, p. 95. 

•'* Matthew Arnold, On the Literary Influence of Academies. 



XXX SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS 

and such matters as the topic-sentence, methods of devel- 
opment, " massing " of the important ideas, and tlie like, 
should be illustrated until they are clearly understood and 
their practical importance is appreciated. Analyzing par- 
agraphs sentence by sentence will be found a ]) roll table ex- 
ercise. To illustrate, if the second paragraph of the first 
Hunker Hill address is under consideration, an analysis 
may be made similar to the following. The first sentence 
of tlie paragraph continues the thought of the preceding 
sentence, and contains the topic to be developed : *• It is 
natural that the local associations should impress us 
deeply.'^ In sentences 'Z and 3 these local associations are 
specified : " We are among tlie graves, we are on the bat- 
tle-ground.'" Sentence 4 presents in obverse an idea 
which in its positive form is repeated in sentence 5 : 
" Tiie date and 2>hicc cannot be made memorable (l)y tlie 
monument) ; they are already memorable." (Compare 
with this the expression of the same idea in Lincoln's 
'' Gettysburg Address : " '^Vsa cannot dedicate, we cannot 
consecrate, we cannot halloAV this ground. The brave 
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated 
it far above our power to add or detract.") Sentence G 
begins with an adversative conjunction, which seems to in- 
dicate a contrast with some preceding sentence or with the 
preceding portion of the paragraph ; but to discover the 
contrasting ideas is at first a little difficult. Is the idea 
denoted by the word ''^Americans" set over against some 
such idea as ^^ men of other nations," '^ the world at large," 
implied in ** subsequent history" and "successive genera- 
tions ?" Heading the whole paragraph to get the connec- 
tion, we see that this interpretation cannot be the true one. 
What is more likely is that the conjunction ** but," instead 
of ])eing a true adversati\e, is merely a device for indicat- 
ing that the tliouglil of tbe |t;iragi-apli, switcluMJ off' in sen- 
tences 4 and .'), has iinu returned to the main line. 'I'his 



SUGGESTIONS FOU TE AG HERS xxxi 

view is rendered plausible by the sentences that follow. 
Sentence 7 and the first two clauses of sentence 8 continue 
the idea of sentence Q, giving reasons why it is natural 
that the local associations should be impressive. The last 
clause of sentence 8. drawing a conclusion from these rea- 
sons^ at the same time repeats the thought of sentelice 1, 
and so brings the paragraph to a fitting close. 

VI. In the study of sentences the starting-point should 
be the paragraph. The character of the sentence — its 
length, its kind, the arrangement of its parts — should be 
accounted for on the principle of adaptation to its place in 
the larger unit of discourse. 

VII. The same principle may also be applied to the 
study of words. A word in one of these orations is best 
studied as a part of the sentence in which it actually oc- 
curs. When the jjupil, for example, comes upon the word 
''respectable'^ in paragraphs 16 and 56 of the second 
Bunker Hill address, the teacher'*s first question should 
not be as to the etymology of the word, nor even as to its 
definition in an unabridged dictionary, but rather as to the 
idea that Webster in this sentence probably wishes to ex- 
press. Let the pupil first endeavor to determine for him- 
self the quality which Webster desires to contrast with 
''grandeur ''' in one sentence, and with " happiness " in 
the other. AVhen these questions have been answered, 
rightly or wrongly, the dictionary will be consulted with 
increased interest and profit. 

VIII. In the study of figures of speech, upon which in 
some schools much emphasis is laid, time will be spent 
most advantageously if it is given to learning their func- 
tions and values rather than to learning their classes. If 
the teacher, for example, devotes an hour to the question 
why "spacious temple of the firmament/' in the opening 
paragraph of the first Bunker Hill address, is preferable 
in that place to " spacious firmament"' or " spacious tem- 



XXXll SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS 

pie-like firmament," and why, in the third paragraph of 
"The Character of Washington," the images do not pro- 
duce the effect of mixed metaphor, he will probably do his 
pupils greater service than by spending the same amount 
of time in teaching them to identify all the synecdoches 
and metonymies in all the four orations. 

IX. The study of the author's biography, which may be 
pursued at the same time with the study of the orations, 
is most conveniently carried on as a part of the work in 
comj^osition. Each student may be required to write sev- 
eral biograi^hical essays. They should be written upon 
limited topics, similar to those suggested in the General 
Note (§§ 23-'25), and should never be longer than two or 
three hundred words. In the preparation of them, pupils 
should be led to consult as many sources as may be available. 

X. The subject-nuitter of the oration should be studied 
systematically. Instead of fitting dates to historical allu- 
sions and collecting odds and ends of information about 
the names mentioned in the text, the pupil should endeavor 
to take stock of the orator^s ideas. He should try to ar- 
range in a systematic w^ay the materials out of which the 
oration was constructed. The principles which in the 
course of the oration are expounded or implied should be 
separated from the facts used to enforce them. Webster's 
views in regard to patriotism, union, the relation of knowl- 
edge to liberty, self-government, and non - interference, 
should be gathered from his speeches and stated briefiy in 
the pupil's own words. The facts of history, on the other 
hand — the discovery of America, the voyages of the Cabots, 
the landing of the Pilgrims, the battles of the Revolution, 
the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine — may be ar- 
ranged in chronological order in tables similar to those on 
pages xl.-xliii. of this volume. 

P>ii'.M()(;KApnY. — On the characteristics of oratory and 
the nature i)f an oration tlie student may consult (ieiiung's 



suaaESTioNS fob TEAGHEBS xxxiii 

'' Practical Rhetoric/' pp. 468-474 ; Hart's " Handbook of 
English Composition and Rhetoric/" pp. 314-322 ; and 
Newcomer's ''English Composition/' pp. 183-205. There 
is an interesting chapter on American oratory in Bryce's 
" American Commonwealth," Pt. vi., and a few paragraphs 
on commemorative oratory in Curtis's ''Life of AVebster/" 
vol. i., pp. 190-195. The plan and the theme are treated 
in their details in Genung's " Practical Rhetoric/' pp. 
248-301, and more generally in Wendell's "English Com- 
position/' pp. 150-192 ; McElroy's " Structure of English 
Prose/' pp. 227-234; and Carpenter's "Exercises in 
Rhetoric/' chapter xiii. To the structure and function of 
the paragraph much attention has recently been paid. 
Full information upon this subject will be found in the 
following worJvs : Bain's " English Composition and Rhet- 
oric/' vol. i., pp. 91-134; McElroy's "Structure of Eng- 
lish Prose/' pp. 196-222; Minto's "Manual of English 
Prose/' pp. 89-97 (in the American edition) ; Genung's 
"Practical Rhetoric/' pp. 193-213; Hart's "English 
Composition and Rhetoric/' chapters ii. and iv. ; Carpen- 
ter's "Exercises in Rhetoric/' chapter x. ; A. S. Hill's 
"Principles of Rhetoric" (Revised edition), pp. 230-238; 
Wendell's " English Composition/' pp. 114-149 ; and in 
Scott and Denney's " Paragraph- Writing." The analyses 
of Macaulay's paragraphs in Minto's "Manual" are es- 
pecially to be commended. For helpful chapters on sen- 
tences and words reference may be made to the works of 
Bain, Wendell, Carpenter, A. S. Hill, McElroy, Hart, and 
Genung, and to Longmans' "School Composition." The 
relation of the sentence to the paragraph is treated with 
some fulness in Scott and Denney's " Paragraph- Writing," 
pp. 36-47. 

A method of analysis similar to that outlined above is 
presented in a little pamphlet, entitled "Esquisse d'une 
Methode generale de preparation et d'explication des 



xxxiv suGGESTIu^'>s Fan teachers 

Auteurs fraiigais/'' by Gustave Alkiis (Paris, 1884). The 
editor ackuowledges his indebtedness to M. Allais, althougli 
the pamphlet did not come to the editor's attention until 
after he liad developed, independently, and applied to some 
extent in his teaching, its fundamental principles. 
• For books on the life of Webster and upon the subject- 
matter of the orations, tiie reader is referred to the General 
Note at the close of the volume. 



SPECIMEN EXAMINATION PAPERS 

In" order that teachers may know what results are ex- 
pected from the Imes of study marked out in the foregoing 
''^Suggestions/^ a few specimen examination papers are 
here appended. For obvious reasons, the topics are from 
the " First Bunker Hill Oration '' only. In practice these 
would of course be supplemented by alternative topics 
from other books. 

I. 

(Directions : 1. Put your name in the upper right-hand 
corner of each sheet. 2. Use only one side of the paper. 
3. Write plainly. 4. Pay attention to punctuation, capital- 
izing, sentence-structure, paragraphing, etc., in all that 
you write.) 

Give in narrative form a short account of your prepa- 
ration in English. State (1) the school you attended, 
(2) the time spent upon English studies, (3) the number of 
essays written, (4) the text-books used, (5) the books read 
in connection with the English courses, (6) any exercises 
or methods of instruction that were particularly profitable 
or unprofitable. 

B. 

(Par. 8.) '"We live in a most extraordinary age. Events so various 
and so important that they might crowd and distinguish centuries, are 
in our times compressed witliin the compass of a single life. . . . 

(Par. 11.) "Yet, notwithstanding that this is but a faint abstract of 
the things which have happened since the day of the battle of Bunker 
Hill, we are but fifty years removed from it," etc. 



xxxvi SPECIMEX EXAMIXATIOX PAPERS 

Give ill your own words a ^^ faint abstract'' of the 
" events " and " things " referred to in paragraphs 8 and 11. 

C. 

"What facts in "Webster's life bear out or refute Thoreau's 
judgment of him : '* His quality is not wisdom, but pru- 
dence/' 

D. 

Why may not sentence 4 of the following paragraph be 
omitted ? Show, by an anal3\sis, that it is necessary to the 
proj^er development of the theme. 

1. *' We may hope that tlie growing intinence of enlightened senti- 
ment will promote the permanent peace of the world. 2. Wars to 
maintain family alliances, to uphold or to cast down dynasties, and 
to regulate successions to thrones, which have occupied so much 
room in the history of modern times, if not less likely to happen at 
all, will be less likely to become general and involve many nations, 
as the great principle shall be more and more established, that the 
interest of the world is peace, and its first great statute, that every 
nation possesses the power of establishing a government for itself. 

3. But public opinion has attained also an influence over governments 
which do not admit the popular principle into their organization. 

4. A necessary respect for the judgment of the world operates, in 
some measure, as a control over the mo.^t iinlimited forms of authority. 

5. It is owing, perhaps, to this truth, that the interesting struggle of 
the Greeks has been suffered to go on so long, without a direct inter- 
ference, either to wrest that country from its present masters, or to 
execute the system of pacification by force ; and, with united strength, 
lay the neck of Christian and civilized Greek at the foot of the bar- 
barian Turk. 6. Let us thank God that we live in an age when some- 
thing has influence besides the bayonet, and wlien the sternest authority 
does not venture to encounter the scorching power of public repro.ioh. 
7. Any attempt of the kind I have mentioned should be met by one 
universal burst of inditrnation : the air of the civilized world onght to 
be made too warm to be comfortably breathed by any one who would 
hazard it." 



SPECIMEN EXAMINATION PAPERS xxxvii 

II. 

[Note and Question A as in I.] 
B. 
Give a running abstract of the '^ First Bunker Hill Ora- 
tion/^ indicating the effect of each part upon the feelings 

of the audience. 

0. 
Emerson speaks of the " want of generalization '' in Web- 
ster^s speeches^ and says that ^' there is not a single general 
remark, not an observation on life and manners, not an 
aphorism, that can pass into literature from his writings.''^ 
Criticise this statement, and illustrate from the "First 
Bunker Hill Oration. ^^ 

D. 

Name the office which each of the following sentences 
has in the development of the paragraph-topic. State in a 
single sentence the main idea of the paragraph. 

1. "It need not surprise us, that, under circumstances less auspi- 
cious, political revolutions elsewhere, even when well intended, have 
terminated differently. 2. It is, indeed, a great achievement, it is the 
masterwork of the world, to establish governments entirely popular 
on lasting foundations ; nor is it easy, indeed, to introduce the popular 
principle at all into governments to which it has been altogether a 
stranger. 3. It cannot be doubted, however, that Europe has come 
out of the contest, in which she has been so long engaged, with greatly 
superior knowledge, and, in many .respects, in a highly improved 
condition. 4. Whatever benefit has been acquired is likely to be re- 
tained, for it consists mainly in the acquisition of more enlightened 
ideas. 5. And although kingdoms and provinces may be wrested 
from the hands that hold them, in the same manner they were ob- 
tained ; although ordinary and vulgar power may, in human affairs, 
be lost as it has been won ; yet it is the glorious prerogative of the 
empire of knowledge, that what it gains it never loses. 6. On the 
contrary, it increases by the multiple of its own power ; all its ends 
become means ; all its attainments help to new conquests. 7. Its 
whole abundant harvest is but so much seed wheat, and nothing has 
limited, and nothing can limit, the amount of ultimate product. 



xxxviii SPECIMEy EXAMINATION PAPERS 

III. 

[Note and Question A as in I.] 

B. 

In eulogizing (1) the survivors of tlie battle, (2) the pa- 
triots who lived long enough to see independence estab- 
lished, (3) Joseph AVarren, (4) the Revolutionary veterans, 
(5) Lafayette ; how does Webster in each case vary the 
form and method of his eulogy ? 

C. 

What mark has AVebster left upon the laws and public 
opinions of the present day ? 

D. 

1. Which of the following sentences is grammatically 
correct ? Give reasons. Which sentence do you tliink 
AVebster wrote ? 

a) " Energy of mind, genius, power, wherever they 
exist, may speak out in any tongue, and the world will 
hear them." 

b) ^' Energy of mind, genius, power, wherever it exists, 
may speak out in any tongue, and the world will hear it." 

"Z. Make a list of the words wliich might be used to sup- 
ply the omission indicated below. Select the best word, 
giving reasons why it is preferable to each of tlie others. 

*' But our object is, by this edifice, to show our own 
deep sense of the value and imi)ortance of the acliieve- 
ments of our ancestors : and, l)y ])resenting tliis work of 
gratitude to tlie eye, to keep alive similar sentiments, and 

to a constant regard for the principles of the Kevolu- 

tion." 

IV. 

[\(.>tt' and (^)iit'st ion A as in I.] 



SPECIMEN EXAMINATION PAPERS xxxix 

B. 

In what respect is the first sentence of paragraph 1 a bet- 
ter opening for the oration than would be the first sentence 
of paragraph 2 ? 

1, " This uncounted multitude before me and around me proves 
the feeling which the occasion has excited. These thousands of 
human faces, glowing with sympathy and joy, and from the impulses 
of a common gratitude turned reverently to heaven in this spacious 
temple of the firmament, proclaim that the day, the place, and the 
purpose of our assembling have made a deep impression on our 
hearts. 

2. "If, indeed, there be anything in local association fit to affect 
the mind of man, we need not strive to repress the emotions which 
agitate us here. We are among the sepulchres of our fathers. We 
are on ground distinguished by their valor, their constancy, and the 
shedding of their blood." 

0. 

In a short essay, reproduce Webster^s views on the rela- 
tion of knowledge to liberty, using illustrations of your 
own. 

D. 

By an analysis of the following paragraph, show the nec- 
essary drift of the omitted sentences. Embody the missing 
ideas in sentences of your own composing. 

1. " We are not propagandists. 2. Wherever other systems are pre- 
ferred, either as being thought better in themselves, or as better 
suited to existing conditions, we leave the preference to be enjoyed. 
3. Our history hitherto proves, however, that the popular form is 
practicable, and that with wisdom and knowledge men may govern 
themselves; and the duty incumbent on us is to preserve the con- 
sistency of this cheering example, and take care that nothing may 

weaken its authority with the world. 4 5. . . 

. . . . 6. The last hopes of mankind, therefore, rest with us ; 
and if it should be proclaimed, that our example had become an argu- 
ment against the experiment, the knell of popular liberty would be 
sounded throughout the earth." 



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THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE 

OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT AT CHARLESTOWN, 

MASS., ON THE 17tH OF JUNE, 1825 



[The earliest monument on the battle-ground of Bunker Hill was 
a shaft to the memory of Joseph Warren, erected in 1794 hy the 
masonic lodge of which Warren was a member. The idea of a monu- 
ment to the battle itself, until within a few years of the fiftieth anni- 
versary, seems never to have entered the mind of anyone. The credit 
of this new conception is given to William Tudor, a Boston man of 
letters, who, if he was not the originator of it, at least by his persist- 
ence and energy did more than anyone else to bring about its realiza- 
tion. Largely through his efforts, a monument association was formed 
in 1823, and steps immediately taken for raising a large sum of 
money. To arouse public enthusiasm in the project, the Association 
resolved to lay the corner stone on the fiftieth anniversary of the 
battle. General Lafayette, then on a triumphant tour of the States, 
gladly consented to be present and to assist in the ceremonies. Mr. 
Webster, as president of the association and the most notable orator 
in New England, was announced to deliver the memorial address. 
f^^ The day, the magnificence of the celebration, the presence of the 
I nation's guest, and the renowned orator, combined to bring together on 
"^ the historic field an assemblage of unusual distinction. After the cor- 
ner-stone had been laid with appropriate solemnities, the spectators, 
to the number of twenty thousand, moved to the north and took their 
seats on the sloping hill-side, facing a platform erected at the base. 

It was an appreciative audience. The time which had elapsed since 
the occurrence of the battle ^j|ifas not yet so long- as to destroy, even 
for the younger generation, the sense of nearness and reality. The 
fathers or grandfathers of most of them had borne arms in the Revo- 
lution. Before their eyes were forty veteran survivors, with the very 



2 DANIEL WhJBSTER 

scars of the battle visible upon them, Tben, too, it was a time when 
the press liad not yet stolen outright the thunders of the orator.- Men 
<lid not say to themselves on such an occasion, as they do now, " We 
shall get all this in to-morrow mornings paper," and turn away witli 
a yawn. They were alive to the transitoriness of the event. They 
felt, as we do not, that in the presence of such a speaker they must 
read with their ears and listen with their eyes. They hung upon the 
lips of the orator with a conviction, the lieritage of classic times, that 
what was lost then would be lost forever. 

On such an occasion, before such an audience, Webster rose and / 
opened his addre.ss.Q . / 

1. 1. This niicoimtcd nuiltitiule before rne and around 
nie proves the feeling wliicli the occasion lias excited. 
These thousands of human faces, glowing with sympathy 
and joy, and from the impulses of a common gratitude 
turned reverently to heaven in this spacious temple of the 
firmament, proclaim that the day, the place, and the pur- 
pose of our assembling have made a deep impression on our 
hearts. 

2. If, indeed, there be anything in local association fit 
to affect the mind of man, we need not strive to repress the 
emoitioiis jvhich a^ [tiitc us here A We are among the sep- 
ulchres of our fathers^ Wu ;Tre on ground distinguished 
by their valor, their constancy, and the shedding of their 
blood. We are here, not to fix an uncertain date in our 
annals, nor to draw into notice an obscure and unknown 
spot./'/ If our humble purpose had never been conceived, if 
we ourselves had never been born, the 17th of June, 1775, 
would have been a day on which all subsequent history 
would have poured its light, and the eminence where we 
stand a point of attraction to the eyes of successive genera- 
tions. But we are Americans. We live in what may be 
called the early age of this great continent ; and we know 
that our posterity, through all time, are here ic\ enjoy and 
suffer the allotments (»f liu inanity. We see before us a 
]>rob;d)h' train of groat events ; wc know that our own fort- 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 3 

unes have been happily cast ; and it is natural, therefore, 
that we should be moved by the contemplation of occur- 
rences which have guided our destiny before many of us 
were born, and settled the condition in which we should 
pass that portion of our existence which God allows to men 
on earth. 

3. We do not read even of the discovery of this conti- 
nent without feeling something of a personal interest in the 
event ; without being reminded how much it has affected 
our own fortunes and our own existence. It would be still 
more unnatural for us, therefore, than for others, to con- 
template with unaffected minds that interesthig, I may 
say that most touching and pathetic scene, when the great 
discoverer of America stood on tlie deck of his shattered 
bark, the shades of night falling on the sea, yet no man 
sleeping ; tossed on the billows of an unknown ocean, yet 
the stronger billows of alternate hope and despair tossing 
his own troubled thoughts ; extending forward his harassed 
frame, straining westward his anxious and eager eyes, till 
Heaven at last granted him a moment of rapture and ec- 
stasy, in blessing his vision with the sight of the unknown 
world. 

4. Nearer to our times, more closely connected with our 
fates, and therefore still more interesting to our feelings 
and affections, is the settl^ient of our own country by 
colonists from England.'f We cherish every memorial of 
these worthy ancestors ; we celebrate their patience and 
fortitude ; we admire their daring enterprise ; we teach 
our children to venerate their piety ; and we are justly 
proud of being descended from men who have set the 
world an example of founding civil institutions on the 
great and united principles of human freedom and human 
knowledge. To us, their children, the story of their labors 
and sufferings can never be without its interest. We shall 
not stand unmoved on the shore of Plymouth while the 



4 DASIEL WEBSTER 

sea continues to wash it ; jiiit-.^^4H-mirJjretliren in another 
early and ancient Colony ^ forget the pUice of its first es- 
tablishment, till their river shall cease to 'ftTrw~tjy-k;. -^ Ko 
vigor of 3'outh, no maturity of manhood, will lead the 
nation to forget the spots where its infancy was cradled 
and defended. ( V 

5. But the great event in the history of the continent, 
which we are now met here to commemorate, that prodigy 
of modern times, at once the wonder and the blessing of the 
world, is the American Revolution. In a day of extraor- 
dinary prosperity aiul happiness, of high national honor, 
distinction, and power, Ave are brought together, in this 
jdace, by our love of country, by our admiration of exalted 
character, by our gratitude for signal services and patriotic 
devotion. 

II. G. The Society ^ whose organ I am was formed for the 
purpose of rearing some honorable and durable monument 
to the memory of the early friends of American Indepen- 
dence. They have thought that for this object no time 
could be more propitious than the present prosperous and 
peaceful period ; that no place could claim preference over 
this memorable spot, and that no day could be more au- 
spicious to the undertaking than the anniversary of the bat- 
tle which was here fought. The foundation of that uum- 
unuMit we liavc now laid. With solemnities suited to the 
occasion, with prayers to Almighty God for his blessing, 
and in tlie midst of this cloud of witnesses, we have begun 
tlie work. We trust it will be prosecuted, and that, 
springing from a broad foundation, rising high in massive 
solidity and unadonu'd grandeur, it may remain as long as 

> Prol>:il>ly tlie Maryland roloiiy, founded on tli«' St. Man's Hivi-r in 
1634. 

• Thu Uunk«M- Hill .Monument Association, of which at this time Mr. 
Webster was jire^ident. 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 5 

Heaven permits the works of man to last^ a fit emblem, 
both of the events m memory of which it is raised, and of 
the gratitude of those who have reared it. 

7. We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious ac- 
tions is most safely deposited in the universal remembrance 
of mankind. We know, that if we could cause this struct- 
ure to ascend, not only till it reached the skies, but till it 
pierced them, its broad surfaces could still contain but 
part of that which, in an age of knowledge, hath already 
been spread over the earth, and which history charges it- 
self with making known to all future times. We know 
that no inscription on entablatures less broad than the 
earth itself can carry information of the events we com- 
memorate where it has not already gone ; and that no 
structure, which shall not outlive the duration of letters 
and knowledge among men, can prolong the memorial. 
But our object is, by this edifice, to show our own deep 
sense of the value and importance of the achievements of 
our ancestors ; and, by presenting this work of gratitude 
to the eye, to keep alive similar sentiments, and to foster 
a constant regard for the principles of the Eevolution. 
Human beings are composed, not of reason only, but of 
imagination also, and sentiment ; and that is neither 
wasted nor misapplied which is approj^riated to the pur- 
pose of giving right direction to sentiments, and opening 
proper springs of feeling in the heart. Let it not be sup- 
posed that our object is to perpetuate national hostility, or 
even to cherish a mere military spirit. It is higher, purer, 
nobler. AVe consecrate our work to the spirit of national 
independence, and we wish that the light of peace may 
rest upon it forever. We rear a memorial of our con- 
viction of that unmeasured benefit which has been con- 
ferred on our own land, and of the happy influences which 
have been produced, by the same events, on the general in- 
terests of mankind. We come, as Americans, to mark a 



6 DANIEL WEBSTER 

spot whicli must forever be dear to us and our posterity. 
We wish that wliosoever, in all coming time, shall turn 
his eye hither, may behold that the place is not undis- 
tinguished where the first great battle of the Revolution 
was fought. We wisli that this structure may proclaim 
the magnitude and importance of that event to every class 
and every age. We wish that infancy may learn the pur- 
pose of its erection from maternal lips, and that weary ami 
withered age may behold it, and be solaced by tlie recollec- 
tions which it suggests. We wish that labor may look up 
here, and be proud, in the midst of its toil. We wish 
that, in those days of disaster, which, as they come upon 
all niitions, must be expected to come upon us also, de- 
sponding patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be 
•assured that the foundations of our national power are still 
strong. We wish that this column, rising towards heaven 
among the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to 
God, may contribute also to produce, in all minds, a pious 
feeling of dependence and gratitude. AVe wish, finally, 
that the last object to the sight of him who leaves his na- 
tive shore, and the first to gladden his who revisits it, may 
be something which shall remind him of the liberty ami 
the glory of his country. \L^ it rise I let it rise, till it meet 
the sun in his coming ; let the earliest light of the morn- 
ing gild it. and parting day linger and jilay on its summit.^ 

III. 8. We live in a most extraordinary age. Events 
so various and so important that they might crowd and 
distinguish centuries, are, in our times, compressed within 
the compass of a single life. When has it happened that 
history has had so much to record, in the same term of 
years, as since the 17th of June, ITT.') 't <>ur own Revolu- 
tion, which, under other circumstaiu^es. might itself have 
been expected to occasion a war of half a century, has been 
achieved ; twenty-four sovereign antl indepeiulent States 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 7 

erected ; and a general government established over them, 
so safe, so wise, so free, so practical, that we might well 
wonder its establishment should have been accomplished 
so soon, were it not far the greater wonder that it should 
have been established at all. Two or three millions of 
people have been augmented to twelve, the great forests gf 
the West prostrated beneath the arm of successful in- 
dustry, and the dwellers on the banks of the Ohio and the 
Mississippi become the fellow-citizens and neigj^bors of 
those who cultivate the hills of New England, ^e have a 
commerce that leaves no sea unexplored ; navies which 
take no law from superior force ; revenues adequate to all 
the exigencies of government, almost without taxation ; 
and peace with all nations, founded on equal rights and 
mutual respect. \ 

^Europe, within the same period, has been agitated by 
a mighty revolution/ which, while it has been felt in the 
individual condition and happiness of almost every man, 
has shaken to the center her j)olitical fabric, and dashed 
against one another thrones which had stood tranquil for 
agea. On this, our continent, our own example has been 
followed, and colonies have sprung up to be nations. Un- 
accustomed sounds of liberty and free government have 
reached us from beyond the track of the sun ;^ and at this 
moment the dominion of European power in this continent, 
from the place where we stand to the south pole, is an- ) 
nihilated forever.^ ^ 

10. In the mean time, both in Europe and America, 
such has been the general progress of knowledge, such the 
improvement in legislation, in commerce, in the arts, in 
letters, and, above all, in liberal ideas and the general spirit 
of the age, that the whole world seems changed. 

1 The French Revolution of 1789. 

'^ Le., from South America, where several republics had recently been 
established. ^ By the proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine. 



8 DANIEL WEBSTER 

11. Yet, notwithstanding that this is but a faint abstract 
of the things which have happened since the day of the 
battle of Bunker Hill, we are but fifty years removed from 
it ; and we now stand here to enjoy all the blessings of our 
own condition, and to look abroad on the brightened pros- 
pects of the world, while we still have among us some of 
those who were active agents in the scenes of 1775, and 
who are now here, from every quarter of ^'ew England, to 
visit once more, and under circumstances so affecting, I 
had almost said so overwhelming, this renowned theatre of 
their courage and patriotism. 

Vf. 12. Vexekakle men ! you have come down to us 
from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously 
lengthened out your lives, that you might beliold this joy- 
ous day. You are now where you stood fifty years ago, 
this very hour, witli your brothers and your neig^hbors, 
shoulder to shoulder, in the strife for your country. Be- 
hold, how altered ! The same heavens are indeed over 
vour heads ; the same ocean rolls at your feet : but all else 
how changed ! You hear now no roar of hostile cannon, 
you see no mixed volumes of smoke and fiame rising from 
burning Charlestown. Cthe ground strowed with the dead 
and the dying ; the impetuous charge; the steady and suc- 
cessful repulse ; the loud call to repeated assault ; the sum- 
moning of all that is manly to repeated resistance ; a thou- 
sand bosoms freely and fearlessly bared in an instant to 
whatever of terror there may be in war and death ; — all 
these you have witnessed, but you witness them no more. 
All is peace. The heights of yonder metropolis.' its towers 
and roofs, which you then saw filled with wives and chil- 
dren and countrymen in distress and terror, and looking 
with unutterable emotions for the issue of the combat, 
have presented you to-day with the sight of its whole 

' Boston. 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 9 

happy population come out to welcome and greet you with 
a universal jubilee. Yonder pl'oud ships/ by a felicity of 
position appropriately lying at the foot of this mount, and 
seeming fondly to cling around it, are not means of annoy- 
ance to ■ you, but your country's own means of distinction 
and defence. All is peace ; and Grod has granted you this 
sight of your country's happiness, ere you slumber in the 
grave. He has allowed you to behold and to partake the 
reward of your patriotic toils ; and he has allowed us, your 
sons and countrymen, to meet you here, and in the name 
of the present generation, in the name of your country, in 
the name of liberty, to thank you ! 

13. But, alas ! you are not'^^ll^ here ! Time and the 
sword have thinned your ranks. /Prescott, Putnam, Stark, 
Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge ! our eyes seek for you in 
vain amid this broken band.) You are gathered to your 
fathers, and live only to your country in her grateful re- 
membrance and your own bright example. But let us not 
too much grieve, that you have met the common fate of 
men. You lived at least long enough to know that your 
work had been nobly and successfully accomplished. Y^ou 
lived to see your country's independence established, and 
to sheathe your swords from war. On the light of Liberty 
you saw arise the light of Peace, like 

" another morn, 
Risen on mid noon ; " 

and the sky on which you closed your eyes was cloudless. 

14. But ah ! Him ! the first great martyr ^ in this great 
cause ! Him ! the premature victim of his own self-devot- 
ing heart ! Him ! the head of our civil councils and the 
destined leader of our military bands, whom nothing 
brought hither but the unquenchable fire of his own spirit ! 

^ In the United States Navj Yard, situated at the base of the Hill. 
^ General Joseph Warren. 



10 VAMEL WEBSTER 

Ilim I cut otf In' Providence in the hour of overwhelming 
anxiety and thick gloom ;. falling ere he saw the star of his 
country rise ; pouring out his generous blood like water, 
before he knew whetlier it would fertilize a land of free- 
dom or of bondage I-^iow shall I struggle wjth tlie emo- 
tions that stifle the utterance of thy name! Our poor 
work may perish ; but thine shall endure ! * This monu- 
ment may niolder away ; the solid ground it rests upon 
may sink down to a level with the sea ; but tliy memory 
shall not fail ! Wheresoever among men a heart shall be 
found that beats to the transports of patriotism and liberty, 
its aspirations shall be to claim kindred with thy spirit ! 

15. But the scene amidst which we stand does not per- 
mit us to confine our thouglits or our sympathies to those 
fearless spirits who hazarded or lost their lives on this con- 
secrated spot. We have the happiness to rejoice here in 
tlie presence of a most worthy representation of the sur- 
vivors of the whole Kevolutionary army. 

16. Veterans ! you are the remnant of many a well- 
fought field. You bring with you marks erf honor from 
Trenton and Monmouth, from Yorktown, Camden, Ben- 
nington, and Saratoga. Vetera xs of half a cexti'ry ! 
when in your youthful days you put everything at hazard 
in your country's cause, good as that cause was, and san- 
guine as youth is, still your fondest hopes did not stretch 
onward to an hour like this. At a period to which you 
could not reasonably have expected to arrive, at a moment 
of national prosperity such as you could never have fore- 
seen, you are now met liere to enjoy the fellowship of old 
soldiers, and to receive the overflowings of a universal grat- 
itude. 

17. But your agitated countenances and your heaviuif 
breasts inform me that even this is not an unmixed joy. 
T perceive that u tumult of conten«li ng feelings rushes 
upon you. The images of the dead, as well as the persons 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 11 

of the living, present themselves before yon. The scene 
overwhelms you, and I turn from it. May the Father of 
all mercies smile upon your declining years, and bless 
them ! And when you shall here have exchanged your 
embraces, when you shall once more have pressed the 
hands which have been so often extended to give succor in 
adversity, or grasped in the exultation of victory, then look 
abroad upon this lovely land which your young valor de- 
fended, and mark the happiness with which it is filled ; 
yea, look abroad upon the whole earth, and see what a 
name you have contributed to give to your country, and 
what a. praise you have added to freedom, and then rejoice 
in the sympathy and gratitude which beam ujDon your last 
days from the improved condition of mankind ! 

V. 18. The occasion does not require of me any partic- 
ular account of the battle of the 17th of June, 1775, nor 
any detailed narrative of the events which immediately 
preceded it. These are familiarly known to all. In the 
progress of the great and interesting controversy, Massa- 
chusetts and the town of Boston had become early and 
marked objects of the displeasure of the British Parlia- 
ment. This had been manifested in the act for altering 
the government of the Province,^ and in that for shutting 
up the port of Boston. Nothing sheds more honor on our 
early history, and nothing better shows how little the 
feelings and sentiments of the Colonies were known or re- 
garded in England, than the impression which these meas- 
ures everywhere produced in America. It had been antici- 
pated, that while the Colonies in general would be terrified 
by the severity of the punishment inflicted on Massachu- 
setts, the other seaports would be governed by a mere 

' Transferring from the people to the Crown the right of choosing 
the Council, and from the people to the Governor the right of nomi- 
nating the judges. 



1-2 DANIEL WEBSTER 

spirit of gain ; mid that, as Boston was now cnt off from 
all commerce, the unexpected advantage which this blow 
on her was calculated to confer on other towns would be 
greedily enjoyed. How miserably such reasoners deceived 
themselves I IIow little they knew of the depth, and the 
strength, and the intenseness of that feeling of resistance 
to illegal acts of power, which possessed the whole Amer- 
ican people I Everywhere the unworthy boon was rejected 
with scorn. The fortunate occasion was seized, every- 
where, to show to the whole world that the Colonies were 
swayed by no local interest, no partial interest, no selfish 
interest. The temptation to profit by the punishment of 
Boston was strongest to our neighbors of Salem. Yet 
Salem was precisely the place where this miserable proffer 
Avas spurned in a tone of the most lofty self-respect and 
the most indignant patriotism. " We are deeply affected," 
said its inhabitants, '* with the sense of our puldic calam- 
ities ; but the miseries that are now rapidly hastening on 
our brethren in the capital of the Province greatly excite 
our commiseration. By shutting up the port of Boston, 
some imagine that the course of trade might be turned 
hither and to our benefit ; but we must l)e dead to every 
idea of justice, lost to all feelings of humanity, could we 
indulge a thought to seize on wealth aiul raise our for- 
tunes on the ruin of our suffering neighbors." These 
noble sentiments were not confined to our immediate vi- 
cinity. In that day of general affection and brotlierliood, 
the blow given to Boston smote on every j)atriotic lieart 
from one end of the country to the other. \'irginia and 
the Carolinas, as well as Connecticut and New Hampshire, 
felt and proclaimed tlie cause to be their own. The Con- 
tinental Congress, tlien holding its first session in Phil- 
adelphia, expressed its symi)at]iy for tlie suffering iidiab- 
itants of Boston, and addresses were received from all 
quarters, assuring them tliat the cause was a common one, 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 13 

and should be met by common efforts and common sacri- 
fices. The Congress of Massachusetts responded to these 
assurances ; and in an address to the Congress at Philadel- 
phia, bearing the official signature, perhaps among the 
last, of the immortal Warren, notwithstanding the severity 
of its suffering and the magnitude of the dangers which 
threatened it, it was declared that this Colony '' is ready, 
at all times, to spend and to be spent in the cause of 
America/' 

19. But the hour drew nigii which was to put profes- 
sions to the proof, and to determine whether the authors 
of these mutual pledges were read/ to seal them in blood. 
The tidings of Lexington and Concord had no sooner 
spread, than it was universally felt that the time was at 
last come for action. A spirit pervaded all ranks, not 
transient, not boisterous, but deep, solemn, determined, 

" totamque infusa per artus 
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet." • 

AVar on their own soil and at their own doors, was, indeed, 
a strange work to the yeomanry of New England ; but 
their consciences were convinced of its necessity, their 
country called them to it, and they did not withhold 
themselves from the perilous trial. The ordinary occu- 
pations of life were abandoned ; the plow was stayed in 
the unfinished furrow ; wives gave up their husbands, and 
mothers gave up their sons, to the battles of a civil war. 
Death might come, in honor, on the field ; it might come, 
in disgrace, on the scaffold. For either and for both they 
were prepared. The sentiment of Quincy^ was full in 

^ "Through all their members interfused, a mind 
Quickens the mass entire, and mingling stirs 
The mighty frame." 
— Virgil's ^neid, vi. 726; Cranch's translation. 
"^ Josiah Quincy, 1744-1775, known among his contemporaries as 
Josiah Quincy, Jr. 



14 DANIEL WEBSTER 

thi'ir liearts. " Bhiiidishnieiits/' said that distinguislied 
sou of genius aiul patriotism, " will not fascinate us, nor 
will threats of a halter intimidate ; for, under God, we are 
determined that, wheresoever, whensoever, or liowsoever 
we shall he called to make our exit, we will die free men.'' 

20. The nth of June saw the four Ncw-Kngland Col- 
onics ^ standing here, side hy side, to triumph or to fall 
toovther ; and there was with them from that moment to 
the end of the war, what I hope will remain with them 
forever, one cause, one country, one heart. 

21. The l^attle of Bunker Jlill was attended with the 
most important effects beyond its immediate results as a 
militai-y engagement. It created at once a state of open, 
public war. There could now be no longer a question of 
proceeding against individuals, as guilty of treason or re- 
bellion. That fearful crisis was past. The appeal lay to 
the sword, and the only question was, whether the spirit 
and the resources of the people would hold out till the ob- 
ject should be accomplished. Nor were its general conse- 
quences confined to our own country. The previous pro- 
ceedings of the Colonies, their appeals, resolutions, and 
addresses, had made their cause known to Europe. With- 
out boasting, we may say, that in no age or country has 
the public cause been maintained with more force of argu- 
ment, ni^re power of illustration, or more of that per- 
suasion which excited feeling and elevated prineii)le can 
alone bestow, than the Revolutionary state papers exhibit. 
These papers witl forever deserve to be studied, not only 
for the spirit which they breathe, but for the ability with 
which they were written. 

22. To this able vindication of their cause, the Colonies 
hud now added a practical and severe proof of their own 
true devotion to it, and given evidence also of the power 
which they could bring to its support. All now saw, that 

' Maaaachusetta, Comiecticut, New lIauii>sliiro. and Rhode Island. 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 15 

if America fell, she would not fall without a struggle. 
Men felt sympathy and regard, as well as surprise, when 
they beheld these infant states, remote, unknown, unaided, 
encounter the power of England, and, in the first consid- 
erable battle, leave more of their enemies dead on the field, 
in proj^ortion to the number of combatants,^ than had been 
recently known to fall in the wars of Europe. 

23. Information of these events, circulating throughout 
the world, at length reached the ears of one who now 
hears me.^ He has not forgotten the emotion which the 
fame of Bunker Hill, and the name of AYarren, excited in 
his youthful breast. 

VI. 24. SiR,^ we are assembled to commemorate the es- 
tablishment of great public principles of liberty, and to 
do honor to the distinguished dead. The occasion is too 
severe ^ for eulogy of the living. But, Sir, your interest- 
ing relation to this country, the peculiar circumstances 
which surround you and surround us, call on me to ex- 
press the happiness which we derive from your presence 
and aid in this solemn commemoration* 

25. Fortunate, fortunate man ! with what measure of de- 
votion will you not thank God for the circumstances of your 
extraordinary life ! You are connected with both hemi- 
spheres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to 
ordain that the electric spark of liberty should be con- 
ducted, through you, from the New World to the Old; 
and we, who are now here to perform this duty of patriot- 

' Tlie British troops lost about one in four of their number. 

^ General Lafayette. 

^ ' ' General Lafayette, who was seated in front of the stage among 
the Revolutionary officers, when particularly addressed, rose, and con- 
tinued standing, till the orator commenced upon another topic." — • 
Boston Patriot and Mercantile Adveitiser, June 20, 1825. 

'^I.e., at once too solemn, and too strictly devoted to a special pur- 
pose. 



16 DANIEL WEBSTER 

ism, liave all of us long ago received it in charge from our 
fathers to cherish your name and your virtues. You will 
account it an instance of your good fortune. Sir, that you 
crossed the seas to visit us at a time which enables you to 
be present at this solemnity. You now behold the field, 
the renown of which reached you in the heart of France, 
and caused a thrill in your ardent bosom. You see the 
lines of the little redoubt thrown up by the incredible dil- 
igence of Prescott ; defended, to the last extremity, by his 
lion-hearted valor ; and within which the corner-stone of 
our monument has now taken its position. You see where 
AVarren fell, and where Parker, Gardner, McOleary, Moore, 
and other early patriots fell with him. Those who sur- 
vived that day, and whose lives have been prolonged to the 
present hour, are now around you. Some of them you 
have known in the trying scenes of the war. Behold ! 
they now stretch forth their feeble arms to embrace you. 
Behold ! they raise their trembling voices to invoke the 
blessing of Grod on you and yours forever. 

26. Sir, you have assisted us in laying the foundation 
of this structure. You have heard us rehearse, with our 
feeble commendation, the names of departed patriots. 
Monuments and eulogy belong to the dead. We give them 
this day to Warren and his associates. On other occasions 
they have been given to your more immediate companions 
in arms, to Washington, to Greene, to Gates, to Sullivan, 
and to Lincoln. We have become reluctant to grant these, 
our highest and last honors, further. We would gladly 
hold them yet back from the little remnant of that immor- 
tal band. Series in coelum. redeas.^ Illustrious as are 
your merits, yet far, 0, very far distant be the day, when 
any inscription shall bear your name, or any tongue pro- 
nounce its eulogy I 

' " May it be loug before you return to heaven." 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 17 

VII. 27. Tlie leading reflection to which this occasion 
seems to invite us, respects the great changes which have 
happened in the fifty years since the battle of Bunker Hill 
was fought. And it peculiarly marks the character of the 
present age, that, in looking at these changes, and in esti- 
mating their effect on qur condition, we are obliged to con- 
sider, not what has been done in our own country only, 
but in others also. In these interesting times, while na- 
tions are making separate and individual advances in im- 
provement, they make, too, a common progress ; like ves- 
sels on a common tide, propelled by the gales at different 
rates, according to their several structure and manage- 
ment, but all moved forward by one mighty current, 
strong enough to bear onward whatever does not sink be- 
neath it. 

28. A chief distinction of the present day is a commu- 
nity of opinions and knowledge amongst men in different 
nations, existing in a degree heretofore unknown. Knowl- 
edge has in our time triumphed, and is triumphing, over 
distance, over difference of languages, over diversity of 
habits, over prejudice, and over bigotry. The civilized 
and Christian world is fast learning the great lesson, that 
difference of nation does not imply necessary hostility, and 
that all contact need not be war. The whole world is be- 
coming a common field for intellect to act in. Energy of 
mind, genius, power, wheresoever it exists, may speak out 
in any tongue, and the tooi^ld will hear it. A great chord 
of sentiment and feeling runs through two continents, and 
vibrates over both. Every breeze wafts intelligence from 
country to country ; every wave rolls it ; all give it forth, 
and all in turn receive it. There is a vast commerce of 
ideas ; there are marts and exchanges for intellectual dis- 
coveries, and a wonderful fellowship of those individual in- 
telligences which make up the mind and opinion of the 
age. (Mind is the great lever of all things ; human thought 



18 DANIEL WEBSTER 

is the process by which human ends are ultimately an- 
swered ; and the diffusion of knowledge, so astonishing in 
the last half-century, has rendered innumerable minds, 
variously gifted by nature, competent to be competitors or 
fellow-workers on the theatre of intellectual operation. 

29. From these causes, important improvements have 
taken place in the personal condition of individuals. 
Generally speaking, mankind are not only better fed and 
better clothed, but they are able also to enjoy more leisure ; 
they possess more refinement and more self-respect. A 
superior tone of education, manners, and habits, prevails. 
This remark, most true in its application to our own coun- 
try, is also partly true when applied elsewhere. It is 
proved by the vastly augmented consumption of those 
articles of manufacture and of commerce which contribute 
to the comforts and the decencies of life ; an augmenta- 
tion which has far outrun the progress of population. 
And while the unexampled and almost incredible use of 
machinery would seem to supply the place of labor, labor 
still finds its occupation and its reward ; so wisely has 
Providence adjusted men's wants and desires to their con- 
dition and their capacity. 

30. Any adequate survey, however, of the progress made 
during the last half-century in the polite and the mechanic 
arts, in machinery and manufactures, in commerce and 
agriculture, in letters and in science, would require 
volumes. I must abstain wholly from these subjects, and 
turn for a moment to the contemplation of what has been 
done on the great question of politics and government. 
This is the master topic of the age ; and during the whole 
fifty years it has intensely occupied the thoughts of men. 
The nature of civil government, its ends and uses, have 
been canvassed and investigated ; ancient opinions attacked 
and defended ; new ideas recommended and resisted, by 
whatever 'power the mind of man could bring to the con- 



THE BUNKER HILL M0NU3IENT 19 

troversy. From the closet and the public halls the debate 
lias been transferred to the field ; and the world has been 
shaken by wars of unexampled magnitude and the greatest 
variety of fortune. A day of peace has at length suc- 
ceeded ; and now that the strife has subsided and the 
smoke cleared away^ we may begin to see what has actually 
been done, permanently changing the state and condition 
of human society. And, without dwelling on particular 
circumstances, it is most apparent, that, from the before- 
mentioned causes of augmented knowledge and improved 
individual condition, a real, substantial, and important 
change has taken place, and is taking place, highly favor- 
able, on the whole, to human liberty and human happi- 
ness. 

31. The great wheel of political revolution began to / 
move in America. Here its rotation was guarded, regular, 
and safe. Transferred to the other continent, from un- 
fortunate but natural causes, it received an irregular and 
violent impulse ; it whirled along with a fearful celerity ; 
till at length, like the chariot wheels in the races of an- 
tiquity, it took fire from tlie rapidity of its own motion, 
and blazed onward, spreading conflagration and terror 
around.^ 

32. We learn from the result of this experiment how 
fortunate was our own condition, and how admirably the 
character of our j^eople was calculated for setting the great 
example of popular governments. The possession of 
power did not turn the heads of the American people, for 
they had long been in the habit of exercising a great degree 
of self-control. Although the paramount authority of the 
parent state existed over them, yet a large field of legisla- 
tion had always been open to our Colonial assemblies. 
They were accustomed to representative bodies and the 

^ The reference is to the violence and bloodshed which attended 
the revolution in France. 



20 DANIEL WEBSTER 

forms of free government ; they understood the doctrine 
of the division of power among different branches, and the 
necessity of checks on each. The character of our coun- 
trymen, moreover, was sober, moral, and religious ; and 
there was little in the change to shock their feelings of 
justice and humanity, or even to disturb an honest preju- 
dice. We had no domestic throne to overturn, no j^rivi- 
leged orders to cast down, no violent changes of pro|)erty 
to encounter. In the American Ke volution, no man 
sought or wished for more than to defend and enjoy his 
own. None hoped for plunder or for spoil. Rapacity 
was unknown to it ; the ax was not among the instruments 
of its accomplishment ; and we all know that it could not 
have lived a single day under any well-founded imputation 
of possessing a tendency adverse to the Christian religion. 
33. It need not surprise us, that, under circumstances 
less auspicious, political revolutions elsewhere, even Avhen 
well intended, have terminated differently. It is, indeed, 
a great achievement, it is the master-work of the world, to 
establish governments entirely popular on lasting foun- 
dations ; nor is it easy, indeed, to introduce the popular 
principle at all into governments to which it has been 
altogether a stranger. It cannot be doubted, however, 
that Europe has come out of the contest, in which she has 
been so long engaged, with greatly superior knowledge, 
and, in many respects, in a highly improved condition.' 
Whatever benefit has been acquired is likely to be retained, 
for it consists mainly in the acquisition of more enlight- 
ened ideas. And although kingdoms and provinces may 
be wrested from the hands that hold them, in the same 
manner they were obtained ; although ordinary and vul- 
gar power may, in human affairs, be lost as it has been 
won ; yet it is the glorious prerogative of the empire of 
knowledge, that what it gains it never loses. l.On the con- 
trary, it increases by the multiple of its own power ; all its 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 21 



ends become means ; all its attainments help to new con- 
quests. Its whole abundant harvest is but so much seed 
wheat, and notliing has limited, and noticing can limit, 
the amount of ultimate product. I > f^C 

34. Under the influence j91 this raj^idly increasing 
knowledge, the people have begun, in all forms of govern- 
ment, to think, and to reason, on affairs of state. Re- 
garding government as an institution for the public good, 
they demand a knowledge of its operations and a partici- 
pation in its exercise. A call for the representative sys- 
tem, wherever it is not enjoyed, and where there is already 
intelligence enough to estimate its value, is perseveringly 
made. Where men may speak out, they demand it ; where 
the bayonet is at their throats, they pray for it. 

35. When Louis the Fourteenth said, '' I am the state,^' 
he expressed the essence of the doctrine of unlimited 
]30wer. By the rules of that system, the people are dis- 
connected from the state ; they are its subjects ; it is their 
lord. These ideas, founded in the love of poAver, and long- 
supported by the excess and the abuse of it, are yielding, 
in our age, to other opinions ; and the civilized world 
seems at last to be proceeding to the conviction of that 
fundamental and manifest truth, that the powers of gov- 
ernment are but a trust, and that they cannot be lawfully 
exercised but for the good of the community. As knowl- 
edge is more and more extended, this conviction becomes 
more and more general. Knowledge, in truth, is. the great 
sun in the firmament. Life and power are scattered Avith 
fill its beams. The prayer of the Grrecian champion,^ when 
enveloped in unnatural clouds and darkness, is the appro- 
priate political supplication for the people of every country 
not yet blessed with free institutions : — 

" Dispel tliis cloud, the liglit of heaven restore, 

Give me to see, — and Ajax asks no more." 

' Ajax, in Homer's Iliad^ Book xvii. 



22 DANIEL WEBSTER 

36. We may hope that tlie growing influence of enlight- 
ened sentiment Avill promote the permanent peace of the 
world. Wars to maintain family alliances, to nphold or to 
cast down dynasties, and to regulate successions to thrones, 
which have occupied so much room in the history of mod- 
ern times, if not less likely to happeii at all, will be less 
likely to become general and involve many nations, as the 
great principle shall be more and more established, that 
the interest of the world is peace, and its first great statute 
that every nation possesses the power of establishing a gov- 
ernment for itself. But public opinion has attained also 
an influence -over governments which do not admit the 
popular principle into their organization. A necessary re- 
spect for the judgment of the world operates, in some 
measure, as a control over the most nnlimited forms of au- 
thority. It is owing, perhaps, to this truth, that the in- 
teresting struggle of the Greeks ^ has been suffered to go 
on so long, without a direct interference, either to wrest 
that country from its present masters, or to execute the 
system of pacification by force, and, with united strength, 
lay the neck of Christian and civilized Greek at the 
foot of the barbarian Turk, Let us thank God that we 
live in an age when something has influence besides the 
bayonet, and when the sternest authority does not venture 
to encounter the scorching power of public reproach. 
Any attempt of the kind I have mentioned should be met 
by one universal burst of indignation ; the air of the civi- 
lized world ought to be made too warm to be comfortably 
breathed by any one who would hazard it. 

37. It is, indeed, a touching reflection, that, while, in 
the fullness of our country's happiness, we rear this monu- 
ment to her honor, we look for instruction in our under- 
taking to a country which is now in fearful contest, not 

^ The war of tlie Greek revolution against Turkey, begun in 1821 
find brought to a close in 1328. 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 23 

for works of art or memorials of glory^ but for her own 
existence. Let her be assured that she is not forgotten in 
the world ; that her efforts are apj)lauded, and that constant 
prayers ascend for her success. And let us cherish a con- 
fident hope for her final triumph. If the true spark of 
religious and civil liberty be kindled, it will burn. Human 
agency cannot extinguish it. Like the earth's central fire, 
it may be smothered for a time ; the ocean may overwhelm 
it ; mountains may j^ress it down ; but its inherent and 
unconquerable force will heave both the ocean and the 
land, and at some time or other, in some place or other, 
the volcano Avill break out and fiame uj) to heaven. 

38. Among the great events of the half -century we must 
reckon, certainly, the revolution of South America ; and 
Ave are not likely to overrate tlie importance of that revolu- 
tion, cither to the people of the country itself or to the rest 
of the world. The late Spanish colonies, now independent 
states, under circumstances less favorable, doubtless, than 
attended our own Revolution, have yet successfully com- 
menced their national existence. They have accomplished 
the great object of establishing their independence ; they 
are known and acknowledged in the world ; and although 
in regard to their systems of government, their sentiments 
on religious toleration, and their provisions for public in- 
struction, they may have yet much to learn, it must be 
admitted that they have risen to the condition of settled 
and established states more rapidly than could have been 
reasonably anticipated. They already furnish an exhilarat- 
ing example of the difference between free governments 
and despotic misrule. Their commerce, at this moment, 
creates a nQ\Y activity in all the great marts of the world. 
They show themselves able, by an exchange of commodities^ 
to bear a useful part in the intercourse of nations. 

39. A new spirit of enterprise and industry begins to 
prevail ; all the great interests of society receive a salutary 



24 DANIEL WEBSTER 

impulse ; and the progress of information not only testifies 
to an improved condition, but itself constitutes the highest 
and most essential improvement. 

40. When the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, the ex- 
istence of South America was scarcely felt in the civilized 
world. The thirteen little Colonies of North America 
habitually called themselves the '' Continent.^' Borne 
down by colonial subjugation, monopoly, and bigotry, 
these vast regions of the South were hardly visible above 
the horizon. But in our day there has been, as it were, a 
new creation. The southern hemisphere emerges from the 
sea. Its lofty mountains begin to lift themselves into the 
light of heaven ; its broad and fertile plains stretch out, in 
beauty, to the eye of civilized man, and at the mighty bid- 
ding of the voice of political liberty the waters of darkness 
retire. 

VIII. 41. And now, let us indulge an honest exultation 
in the conviction of the benefit which the example of our 
country has produced, and is likely to produce, on human 
freedom and human happiness. Let us endeavor to com- 
prehend in all its magnitude, and to feel in all its imj^or- 
tance, the part assigned to us in the great drama of human 
affairs. We are placed at the head of the system of repre- 
sentative and popular governments. Thus far our example 
shows that such governments are compatible, not only 
with respectability and power, but with rej^ose, with peace, 
with security of personal rights, with good laws, and a just 
administration. 

42. AVe are not propagandists. Wherever other systems 
are preferred, either as being thought better in themselves, 
or as better suited to existing condition, we leave the joref- 
erence to be enjoyed. Our history hitherto proves, how- 
ever, that the popular form is practicable, and that with 
wisdom and knowledge men may govern themselves ; and 



THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 25 

the duty incumbent on us is^ to preserve the consistency of 
this cheering example^ and take care that nothing may 
weaken its authority with tlie world. If, in our case, tlie 
representative system ultimately fail, popular governments 
must be pronounced impossible. JNTo combination of cir- 
cumstances more favorable to the experiment can ever be 
expected to occur. The last hopes of mankind, therefore, 
rest with us ; and if it should be proclaimed, that our ex- 
ample had become an argument against the experiment, 
the knell of popular liberty would be sounded throughout 
the earth. 

43. These are excitements to duty ; but they are not 
suggestions of doubt. Our Iiistory and our condition, all 
that is gone before us, and all that surrounds us, authorize 
the belief, that popular governments, though subject to 
occasional variations, in form perhaps not always for the 
better, may yet, in their general character, be as durable 
and permanent as other systems. We know, indeed, that 
in our country any other is impossible. The ])rinciple of 
free governments adheres to the American soil. It is 
bedded in it, immovable as its mountains. 

44. And let the sacred obligations Avhicli have devolved 
on this generation, and on us, sink deep into our hearts. 
Those who established our liberty and our government are 
daily dropping frorn among us. The great trust now de- 
scends to new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that which 
is presented to us, as our appropriate object. We can win 
no laurels in a war for independence. Earlier and worthier 
hands have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us 
by the side of Solon, and Alfred, and other founders of 
states. Our fathers have filled them. But there remains 
to us a great duty of defence and preservation ; and there 
is opened to us, also, a noble pursuit to which the spirit 
of the times strongly invites us. Our proper business is 
improvement. Let our age be the age of improvement. 



2G DANIEL WEBSTER 

111 a day of j^eace, let us advance the arts of peace and the 
works of peace. Let us develop tlie resources of our land, 
call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all 
its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and 
generation, may not perform something worthy to be re- 
membered. Let us cultivate a true spirit of union and 
harmony. In pursuing the great objects which ouii con- 
dition points out to us, let us act under a settled conviction 
and an habitual feeling, that these twenty-four States are 
one country. Let our conceptions be enlarged to the circle 
of our duties. Let us extend our ideas over the whole of 
the vast field in which we are called to act. Let our ob- 
ject be, OUR COUJ^TRY, OUR WHOLE COUNTRY, A]S"D NOTH- 

i^STG BUT OUR COUKTRY. And, by the blessing of God, may 
that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, 
not of oppression and terror, but of Wisdom, of Peace, and 
of Liberty, upon whicli the world may gaze with admira- 
tion forever ! 



THE COMPLETION OF THE BUNKER 
HILL MONUMENT 

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED ON BUNKER HILL, ON THE 17tH OP JUNE, 
1843, ON THE OCCASION OP THE COMPLETION OP THE MONUMENT 

[Seventeen years after the laying of the corner stone, Bunker Hill 
Monument was completed. At the celebration, the succeeding- year, 
Mr. Webster was again requested to deliver the address. The scene is 
thus described by Mr. Plumer : " I attended the Bunker Hill celebration 
on the 17th. ... I never before saw so many people together, 
and probably never shall again — a hundred thousand human beings — 
some say twice that number — all intent on one object, all pleased 
and giving pleasure, happy themselves, and making others happy. I 
was in the crowd, on my feet, but near enough not only to hear the 
oration of Webster, but to see the flash of his large black eye, and ob- 
serve the movements of his face as well as of his body. The discourse 
was worthy of the man and of the occasion, each highest of its kind. 
Webster bears on his body the marks of labor and of age. When I 
spoke to him next day of his address, he said he was too old for such 
an occasion. I told him that nobody else thought him so. Compared, 
however, with the discourse on laying the corner-stone of the monu- 
ment, eighteen years ago, it maybe remarked that, with less brilliancy, 
it has more thought ; with equal force, less imagination ; with a wider 
experience, a less moving eloquence. There are, however, even in 
this latter respect, some very effective passages in the present address. 
That in which the monument itself is spoken of as the great orator of 
the day, and that in which its connection with the union of the States 
is represented, produced upon the audience the most thrilling efiPect. 
The heart of that mighty multitude beat, as if by one mighty impulse 
in lofty and patriotic emotion, proud and magnanimous, yet obedient 
to the will and the motion, the words and the action, of the mighty 
master. . , . The great mass of the people were on their feet, 



28 DANIEL WEBSTER 

standing still, with all eyes intent upon tlie speaker ; but every now 
and tlien tlie wliole mass was in motion, moving backward and for- 
ward, eacli man over a space of some two or three feet, and these 
tides, irregular in their access, seemed yet connected with the orator, 
and responsive to his action on the minds of his hearers." — Quoted in 
Curtis's Life of Webster, vol. i., p. 608.] 

1. 1. A DUTY has been performed. A work of gratitude 
and patriotism is completed. This structure, having its 
foundations in soil which drank deep of early Revolu- 
tionary blood, has at length reached its destined height, 
and now lifts its summit to the skies. 

2. We have assembled to celebrate the accomplishment 
of this undertaking, and to indulge afresh in the recol- 
lection of the great event which it is designed to com- 
memorate. Eighteen years, more than half the ordinary 
duration of a generation of mankind, have elapsed since 
the corner-stone of this monument was laid. The hoj)es of 
its projectors rested on voluntary contributions, private 
munificence, and the general favor of the public. These 
hopes have not been disappointed. Donations have been 
made by individuals, in some cases of large amount, and 
smaller sums have been contributed by thousands. All 
who regard the object itself as important, and its accom- 
plishment, therefore, as a good attained, will entertain sin- 
cere respect and gratitude for the unwearied efforts of the 
successive presidents, boards of directors, and committees 
of the Association which has had the general control of the 
work. The architect, equally entitled to our thanks and 
commendation, will find other reward, also, for his labor 
and skill, in the beauty and elegance of the obelisk itself, 
and the distinction which, as a work of art, it confers upon 
him. 

3. At a period wlien the prospects of further progress 
in the undertaking were gloomy and discouraging, the 
Mechanic Association, by a most praiseworthy and vigorous 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 29 

effort^ raised l\Q^Y funds for carrying it forward, and saw 
them applied with fidelity, economy, and skill. It is a 
grateful duty to make public acknowledgments of such 
timely and efficient aid. 

4. The last effort and the last contribution were from a 
different source. Garlands of grace and elegance were 
destined to crown a work which had its commencement in 
manly patriotism. The winning power of the sex ad- 
dressed itself to the public, and all that was needed to 
carry the monument to its proposed height, and to give to 
it its finish, was promptly supplied. The mothers and the 
daughters of the land contributed thus, most successfully, 
to whatever there is of beauty in the monument itself, or 
whatever of utility and public benefit and gratification 
there is in its completion.^ 

5. Of those with whom the plan originated of erecting 
on this spot a monument worthy of the event to be com- 
memorated, many are now present ; but others, alas ! have 
themselves become subjects of monumental inscription. 
William Tudor, an accomplished scholar, a distinguished 
writer, a most amiable man, allied both by birth and sen- 
timent to the patriots of the Revolution, died while on 
public service abroad, and now lies buried in a foreign 
land. William Sullivan, a name fragrant of Revolutionary 
merit, and of public service and public virtue, who him- 
self partook in a high degree of the respect and confi- 
dence of the community, and yet was always most loved 
where best known, has also been gathered to his fathers. 
And last, George Blake, a lawyer of learning and eloquence, 
a man of wit and of talent, of social qualities the most 
agreeable and fascinating, and of gifts which enabled him 
to exercise large sway over public assemblies, has closed 
his human career. I know that in the crowds before me 

' Referring to a fair held by the women of Boston, in Faneuil Hall, 
to raise money for completing the monument. 



30 DANIEL WEBSTER 

there are those from whose eyes tears will flow at the men- 
tion of these names. But such mention is clue to their 
general 'character, their public and private virtues, and 
esf)ecially, on this occasion, to the spirit and zeal witli 
Avhicli they entered into the nndertaking which is now 
comj^leted. 

G. I have spoken only of those who are no longer num- 
bered with the living. But a long life, now drawing 
towards its close, always distinguished by acts of public 
spirit, humanity, and charity, forming a character which 
has already become historical, and sanctified by public re- 
gard and the affection of friends, may confer even on the 
living the proper immunity ^ of the dead, and be the fit 
subject of honorable mention and warm commendation. 
Of the early projectors of the design of this monument, 
one of the most prominent, the most zealous, and the most 
efficient, is Thomas H. Perkins. It was beneath his ever 
hospitable roof that those whom I have mentioned, and 
others yet living and now present, having assembled for 
the purpose, adoj)ted the first step towards erecting a mon- 
ument on Bunker Hill. Long may he remain, with un- 
impaired faculties, in the wide field of his usefulness ! 
His charities have distilled like the dews of heaven ; he has 
fed the hungry, and clothed the naked ; he has given sight 
to the blind ; and for such virtues there is a reward on 
high of which all human memorials, all language of brass 
and stone, are but humble types and attempted imitations. 

7. Time and nature have had their course, in diminish- 
ing the number of those whom we met here on the 17tli 
of June, 1825. Most of the Kevolutionary characters then 
present have since deceased ; and Lafayette sleeps in his 
native land. Yet the name and blood of Warren are Avith 
us ; the kiiulred of Putnam are also here ; and near me, 
universally beloved for his character and his virtues, and 
' In the sense of " prerogative," not of "exemption." 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 31 

now venerable for liis years, sits the son of the noble- 
lieartecl and daring Prescott. Gideon Foster of Danvers, 
Enos Reynokis of Boxford, Phineas Johnson, Robert An- 
drews, Elijah Dresser, Josiah Cleaveland, Jesse Smith, 
Philip Bagley, Needham Maynard, Roger Plaisted, Joseph 
Stephens, Nehemiah Porter, and James Harvey, who bore 
arms for their country either at Concord and Lexington, 
on the 19th of April, or on Bunker Hill, all now far ad- 
vanced in age, have come here to-day, to look once more 
on the field where their valor was proved, and to receive a 
hearty outpouring of our respect. 

8. They have long outlived the troubles and dangers of 
tlie Revolution ; they have outlived the evils arising from 
the want of a united and efficient government ; they have 
outlived the menace of imminent dangers to the public lib- 
erty ; they have outlived nearly all their contemporaries ; 
but they have not outlived, they cannot outlive, the affec- 
tionate gratitude of their country. Heaven has not allotted 
to this generation an opportunity of rendering high ser- 
vices, and manifesting strong personal devotion, such as 
they rendered and manifested, and in such a cause as that 
which roused the patriotic fires of their youthful breasts, 
and nerved the strength of their arms. But we may praise 
what we cannot equal, and celebrate actions which we 
were not born to perform. Pulchrum est henefacere rei- 
2mUic(B, ctiam lenedicere liaud ahsurdum est.'^ 

II. 9. The Bunker Hill Monument is finished. Here it 
stands. Fortunate in the high natural eminence on which 
it is placed, higher, infinitely higher in its objects and 
purpose, it rises over the land and over the sea ; and, vis- 
ible, at their homes, to three hundred thousand of the 
people of Massachusetts, it stands a memorial of the last, 

' " It is becoming to act well for the republic ; to speak well of it 
even is not discreditable." — Sallast, De Goiijur. Catilince, iii. 



,^2 DANIEL WEBSTER 

and a monitor to the present and to all succeeding gener- 
ations. I have spoken of the loftiness of its purpose. If 
it had been without any other design than the creation of 
a work of art^ the granite of which it is composed would 
have slept in its native bed. It has a purpose, and that 
purpose gives it its character. That purpose enrobes it 
with dignity and moral grandeur. That well-known pur- 
pose it is which causes us to look up to it with a feeling of 
awe. It is itself the orator of this occasion. It is not 
from my lips, it could not be from any human lips, that 
that strain of eloquence is this day to flow most competent 
to move and excite the vast multitudes around me. The 
powerful speaker stands motionless before us.^ It is a 
plain shaft. It bears no inscriptions, fronting to the ris- 
ing sun, from which the future antiquary shall wipe the 
dust. Nor does the rising sun cause tones of music to 
issue from its summit. But at the rising of the sun, and 
at the setting of the sun, in the blaze of noonday, and be- 
neath the milder effulgence of lunar light ; it looks, it 
speaks, it acts, to the full comprehension of every Amer- 
ican mind, and the awakening of glowing enthusiasm in 
every American heart. Its silent, but awful utterance ; 
its deep pathos, as it brings to our contemplation the 17th 
of June, 1775, and the consequences which have resulted 
to us, to our country, and to the world, from the events of 

' " I was one of that vast throng, gathered at Banker Hill, which 
saw Webster raise his outstretched arm up to the newly completed 
monument, and heard him say : 'It is not from my lips— it could not 
be from any lips — that the stream of eloquence is this day to flow, 
most competent to move and excite this vast multitude around me. 
The 'powerful speaTcer stands motionless hefore us.'* I felt the thrill 
which ran through that vast audience, and I saw their uplifted eyes 
and blanched cheeks, and joined in that responsive shout which told, 
as no words could tell, that we had heard one of the most perfect pas- 
sages in all oratory." — Judge Mellen Chamberlain, in the Century 
Magazine^ vol. xxiv., p. 711. 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 33 

that day, and wliicli we know mnst continue to rain influ- 
ence on the destinies of mankind to the end of time ; the 
elevation with which it raises us high above the ordinary 
feelings of life, surpass all that the study of the closet, or 
even the inspiration of genius, can produce. To-day it 
speaks to us. Its future auditories will be the successive 
generations of men as they rise up before it and gather 
around it. Its speech will be of patriotism and courage ; 
of civil and religious liberty ; of free government ; of the 
moral improvement and elevation of mankind ; and of the 
immortal memory of those who, with heroic devotion, have 
sacrificed their lives for their country. 

10. In the older w^orld, numerous fabrics still exist, 
reared by human hands, but whose object has- been lost in 
the darkness of ages. They are noAV monuments of noth- 
ing but the labor and skill which constructed them. 

11. The mighty pyramid itself, half buried in the sands 
of Africa, has nothing to bring down and report to us, but 
the power of kings and the servitude of the people. If it 
had any purpose beyond that of a mausoleum, such pur- 
pose has perished from history and from tradition. If 
asked for its moral object, its admonition, its sentiment, 
its instruction to mankind, or any high end in its erection, 
it is silent ; silent as the millions which lie in the dust at 
its base, and in the catacombs which surround it. With- 
out a just moral object, therefore, made known to man, 
though raised against the skies, it excites only conviction 
of power, mixed with strange wonder. But if the civiliza- 
tion of the present race of men, founded, as it is, in solid 
science, the true knowledge of nature, and vast discoveries 
in art, and which is elevated and purified by moral senti- 
ment and by the truths of Christianity, be not destined to 
destruction before the final termination of human exist- 
ence on earth, the object and purpose of this edifice will 
be known till that hoiir shall come. And even if civiliza- 

3 



34 DANIEL WEBSTER 

tion siiould be subverted, and tbe truths of the Christian 
religion obscured by a new deluge of barbarism, the mem- 
ory of Bunker Hill and the American Eevolution will still 
be elements and parts of the knowledge which shall be 
possessed by the last man to whom the light of civilization 
and Christianity shall be extended. 

III. 12. This celebration is honored by the presence of 
the chief executive magistrate of the Union. ^ An occasion 
so national in its object and character, and so much con- 
nected with that Eevolution from which the government 
sprang at the head of which he is placed, may well receive 
from him this mark of attention and respect. Well ac- 
quainted with Yorktown,- the scene of the last great mil- 
itary struggle of the Revolution, his eye now surveys the 
field of Bunker Hill, the theatre of the first of those im- 
portant conflicts. He sees Avhere "Warren fell, where Put- 
nam and Prescott, and Stark, and Knowlton, and Brooks 
fought. He beholds the spot where a thousand trained 
soldiers of England were smitten to the earth, in the first 
effort of revolutionary war, by the arm of a bold and de- 
termined yeomanry, contending for liberty and their coun- 
try. And while all assembled here entertain towards him 
sincere personal good wishes and the high respect due to 
his elevated office and station, it is not to be doubted that 
he enters, with true American feeling, into the patriotic 
enthusiasm kindled by the occasion which animates the 
multitudes that surround liim. 

13. His Excellency the Governor of the Commonwealth, 
the Governor of Ptliode Island, and the other distinguished 
public men whom we have the honor to receive as visitors 
and guests to-day, Avill cordially unite in a celebration con- 
nected with the great event of the Revolutionary War. 

^ Pre si dent Tyler. 

^ Because he was Lorn not very far from that city. 



THE COMPLETION OB' THE MONUMENT 35 

14. No name in the history of 1775 and 1770 is more dis- 
tinguished than that borne by an ex-president of the 
United States,^ whom we expected to see here^ but whose 
ill health prevents his attendance. Whenever popular 
rights were to be asserted, an Adams was present ; and 
when the time came for the formal Declaration of Indepen- 
dence^ it was the voice of an Adams that shook the halls of 
Congress. We wish we could have welcomed to us this day 
the inheritor of Revolutionary blood, and the just and 
worthy representative of high Kevolutionary names, merit, 
and services. 

15. Banners and badges, processions and flags, announce 
to us, that amidst this uncounted throng are thousands 
of natives of New England now residents in other States. 
Welcome, ye kindred names, with kindred blood ! From 
the broad savannas of the South, from the newer regions 
of the West, from amidst the hundreds of thousands 
of men of Eastern origin who cultivate the rich valley of 
the Genesee, or live along the chain of the Lakes, from 
the mountains of Pennsylvania, and from the thronged 
cities of the coast, welcome, welcome ! Wherever else you 
may be strangers, here you are all at home. You assemble 
at this shrine of liberty, near the family altars at which 
your earliest devotions were paid to Heaven ; near to the 
temples of worship first entered by you, and near to the 
schools and colleges in which your education was received. 
You come hither with a glorious ancestry of liberty. You 
bring names which are on the rolls of Lexington, Concord, 
and Bunker Hill. You come, some of you, once more to 
be embraced by an aged Eevolutionary father, or to receive 
another, perhaps a last, blessing, bestowed in love and 
tears, by a mother, yet surviving to witness and to enjoy 
your prosperity and happiness. 

16. But if family associations and the recollections of the 

' John Quiiicy Adams. 



36 DANIEL WEBSTER 

past bring you hither with greater alacrity, and mingle 
with your greeting much of local attachment and private 
affection, greeting also be given, free and hearty greeting, 
to every American citizen who treads this sacred soil with 
patriotic feeling, and respires with pleasure in an atmos- 
phere perfumed with the recollections of 1775 ! This oc- 
casion is respectable, nay, it is grand, it is sublime, by the 
nationality of its sentiment. Among the seventeen mill- 
ions of happy people who form the American community, 
there is not one who has not an interest in this monument, 
as there is not one that has not a deep and abiding interest 
in that which it commemorates. 

17. "Woe betide the man v/ho brings to this day's worship 
feeling less than wholly American ! Woe betide the man 
who can stand here with the fires of local resentments burn- 
ing, or the purpose of fomenting local jealousies and the 
strifes of local interests festering and rankling in his heart ! 
Union, established in justice, in patriotism, and the most 
plain and obvious common interest, — union, founded on the 
same love of libert}^, cemented by blood shecl in the same 
common cause, — union has been the source of all our glory 
and greatness thus far, and is the ground of all our high- 
est hopes. This column stands on Union. I know not 
that it might not keep its position if the American Union, 
in the mad conflict of human passions, and in the strife of 
parties and factions, should be broken up and destroyed. 
I know not that it would totter and fall to the earth, and 
mingle its fragments with the fragments of Liberty and 
the Constitution, when State should be separated from 
State, and faction and dismemberment obliterate forever 
all the hopes of the founders of our republic, and the 
great inheritance of their children. It might stand. But 
who, from beneath the weight of mortification and shame 
that would oppress him, could look up to behold it ? 
AVhose eyeballs would not be seared by such a spectacle ? 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 37 

For my part^ slioiild I live to such a time, I shall avert my 
eyes from it forever. 

IV. 18. It is not as a mere military encounter of hostile 
armies, that the battle of Bunker Hill presents its principal 
claim to attention. Yet, even as a mere battle, there were 
circumstances attending it extraordinary in character, and 
entitling it to peculiar distinction. It was fought on this 
eminence ; in the neighborhood of yonder city ; in the pres- 
ence of many more spectators than there were combatants 
in the conflict. Men, women, and children, from every 
commanding position, were gazing at the battle, and look- 
ing for its results with all the eagerness natural to those 
who knew that the issue was fraught with the deepest con- 
sequences to themselves personally, as well as to their coun- 
try. Yet on the 16tli of June, 1775, there was nothing 
around this hill but verdure and culture.^ There was, in- 
deed, the note of awful preparation in Boston. There was 
the Provincial army at Cambridge, with its right flank rest- 
ing on Dorchester, and its left on Chelsea. But here all 
was peace. Tranquillity reigned around. On the 17th 
everything was changed. On this eminence had arisen, in 
the night, a redoubt, built by Prescott, and in Avhich he 
held command. Perceived by the enemy at dawn, it was 
immediately cannonaded from the floating batteries in the 
river, and from the opposite shore. And then ensued the 
hurried movement in Boston, and soon tlie troops of Brit- 
ain embarked in the attempt to dislodge the Colonists. In 
an hour everything indicated an immediate and bloody 
conflict. Love of liberty on one side, proud defiance of 
rebellion on the other, hopes and fears, and courage and 
daring, on both sides, animated the hearts of the combat- 
ants as they hung on the edge of battle. 

19. I suppose it would be difiicult, in a military point of 
' Cultivated fields. 



38 DANIEL WEBSTER 

view, to ascribe to tlie leaders on either side any just motive 
for the engagement which followed. On the one hand, it 
could not have been very imj^ortant to the Americans to 
attempt to hem the British within the town, by advancing 
one single post a quarter of a mile ; while, on the other 
hand, if the British found it essential to dislodge the 
American troops, they had it in their power at no expense 
of life. By moving up their ship and batteries, they could 
have completely cut olf all communication with the main- 
land over the Neck, and the forces in the redoubt would 
have been reduced to a state of famine in forty-eight 
hours. 

20. But that was not the day for any such consideration 
on either side ! Both parties were anxious to try the 
strength of their arms. The pride of England would not 
permit the rebels, as she termed them, to defy her to the 
teeth ; and, without for a moment calculating the cost, 
the British general determined to destroy the fort im- 
mediately. On the other side, Prescott and his gallant fol- 
lowers longed and thirsted for a decisive trial of strength 
and of courage. They wished a battle, and wished it at 
once. And this is the true secret of the movements on this 
hill. 

21. I will not attempt to describe that battle. The can- 
nonading ; the landing of the British ; their advance ; the 
coolness with which the charge was met ; the re23ulse ; the 
second attack ; the second repulse ; the burning of Charles- 
town ; and finally the closing assault, and the slow retreat 
of the Americans, — the history of all these is familiar. 

22. But the consequences of the battle of Bunker Hill 
were greater than those of any ordinary conflict, although 
between armies of far greater force, and terminating with 
more immediate advantage on the one side or the other. 
It was the first great battle of the Kevolution ; and not 
only the first blow, but the blow which determined the 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 39 

contest. It did not, indeed, put an end to the war, but, 
in the then existing hostile state of feeling, the difficulties 
could only be referred to the arbitration of the sword. 
And one thing is certain ; that after the New-England 
troops had shown themselves able to face and repulse the 
regulars, it was decided that peace never could be estab- 
lished, but upon the basis of the independence of the Colo- 
nies. When the sun of that day went down, the event of 
Independence was no longer doubtful. In a fcAV days 
Washington heard of the battle, and he inquired if the mi- 
litia had stood the fire of the regulars. When told that 
they had not only stood that fire, but reserved their own 
till the enemy was within eight rods, and then jooured it in, 
with tremendous effect, '^ Then," exclaimed he, '' the lib- 
erties of the country are safe ! " 

23. The consequences of this battle were just of the same 
imjiortance as the Revolution itself. 

24. If there was nothing of value in the principles of the 
American Revolution, then there is nothing valuable in the 
battle of Bunker Ilill and its consequences. But if the 
Revolution was an era in the history of man favorable to 
human happiness, if it was an event which marked the 
progress of man all over the world from despotism to lib- 
erty, then this monument is not raised without cause. 
Then the battle of Bunker Hill is not an event undeserv- 
ing celebrations, commemorations, and rejoicings, now and 
in all coming times. 

V. 25. What, then, is the true and i^eculiar principle of 
the American Revolution, and of the systems of govern- 
ment which it has confirmed and established ? The truth 
is, that the American Revolution was not caused by the in- 
stantaneous discovery of principles of government before 
unheard of, or the practical adoption of political ideas such 
as had never before entered into the minds of men. It was 



40 DANIEL WEBSTER 

but the full development of principles of government, 
forms of society, and political sentiments, the origin of all 
which lay back two centuries in English and American his- 
tory. 

26. The discovery of America, its colonization by the 
nations of Eurojoe, the history and progress of the colonies, 
from their establishment to the time when the principal 
of them threw off their allegiance to the respective states 
by which they had been planted, and founded governments 
of their own, constitute one of the most interesting ^^or- 
tions of the annals of man. These events occupied three 
hundred years ; during which period civilization and knowl- 
edge made steady progress in the Old World ; so that 
Europe, at the commencement of the nineteenth century, 
had become greatly changed from that Europe which began 
the colonization of America at the close of the fifteenth, 
or the commencement of the sixteenth. And what is most 
material to my present pur230se is, that in the progress of 
the first of these centuries, that is to say, from the discovery 
of America to the settlements of Virginia and Massachu- 
setts, political and religious events took place which most 
materially affected the state of society and the sentiments 
of mankind, especially in England and in parts of Conti- 
nental Europe. After a few feeble and unsuccessful efforts 
by England, under Henry the Seventh, to plant colonies in 
America,^ no designs of that kind were prosecuted for a 
long period, either by the English Government or any of its 
subjects. Without inquiring into the causes of this delay, 
its consequences are sufficiently clear and striking. Eng- 
land, in this lapse of a century, unknown to herself, but 
under the providence of God and the influence of events, 
was fitting herself for the work of colonizing North 
America, on such principles and by such men, as should 
spread the English name and English blood, in time, over 
1 Kesulting in the voyages and cliscoyeneg of the Cabots, 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 4i 

a great portion of the Western hemisphere. The commer- 
cial spirit was greatly fostered by several laws passed in the 
reign of Henry the Seventh ; and in the same reign en- 
couragement was given to arts and manufactures in the 
eastern counties, and some not unimportant modifications 
of the feudal system took place by allowing the breaking of 
entails.^ These and other measures, and other occurrences, 
were making way for a new class of society to emerge, and 
show itself, in a military and feudal age ; a middle class, 
between the barons or great landholders and the retainers 
of the crown, on the one side, and the tenants of tlie 
crown and barons, and agricultural and other laborers, 
on the other side. With the rise and growth of this 
new class of society, not only did. commerce and the 
arts increase, but better education, a greater degree of 
knowledge, juster notions of the true ends of government, 
and sentiments favorable to civil liberty, began to spread 
abroad, and become more and more common. But the 
plants springing from these seeds were of slow growth. The 
character of English society had indeed begun to undergo 
a change ; but changes of national character are ordinarily 
the work of time. Operative causes were, however, evi- 
dently in existence, and sure to produce, ultimately, their 
proper effect. From the accession of Henry the Seventh 
to the breaking out of the civil wars, England enjoyed 
much greater exemption from war, foreign and domestic, 
than for a long period before, and during the controversy 
between the houses of York and Lancaster.^ These years 
of peace were favorable to commerce and the arts. Com- 
merce and the arts augmented general and individual 

' An entailed estate cannot be sold ; it descends perpetually to speci- 
fied heirs. 

2 This controversy, known as the War of the Roses, began in 1455 
and closed with the accession of Henry the Seventh in 1485. The 
civil wars did not begin until 1642. 



42 DziNlEL WEBSTER 

knowledge ; and knowledge is the only fountain, both of 
the love and the principles of human liberty. 

27. Other powerful causes soon came into active play. 
The Keformation of Luther broke out, kindling up the 
minds of men afresh, leading to new habits of thought, 
and awakening in individuals energies before unknown 
even to themselves. The religious controversies of this 
period changed society, as well as religion ; indeed, it would 
be easy to prove, if this occasion were proper for it, that 
they changed society to a considerable extent, where they 
did not change the religion of the state. They changed 
man himself. In his modes of thought, his consciousness of 
his own powers, and his desire of intellectual attainment. 
The spirit of commercial and foreign adventure, therefore, 
on the one hand, which had gained so much strength and 
influence since the time of the discovery of America, and, 
on the other, the assertion and maintenance of religious 
liberty, having their source indeed in the Reformation, but 
continued, diversified, and constantly strengthened by the 
subsequent divisions of sentiment and opinion among the 
Reformers themselves, and tliis love of religious liberty 
drawing after it or bringing along with it, as it always 
does, an ardent devotion to the principle of civil liberty 
also, were the powerful influences under which character 
was formed and men trained, for the great work of intro- 
ducing Euglish civilization, English law, and, what is 
more than all, Anglo-Saxon blood, into the wilderness of 
North America. Raleigh and his companions may be con- 
sidered as the creatures, principally, of the first of tliese 
causes. Iligli-spirited, full of the love of personal advent- 
ure, excited, too, in some degree, by the hopes of sudden 
riches from tlie discovery of mines of the precious metals, 
and not unwilling to diversify the labors of settling a 
colony witli occasional cruising against the Spaniards in 
the AVest Indian seas, tliev crossed and recrossed the ocean, 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 43 

with a frequency which surprises us, when we consider the 
state of navigation, and which evinces a most daring spirit. 

28. The other cause peopled New England. The May- 
flower sought our shores under no high-wrought spirit of 
commercial adventure, no love of gold, no mixture of pur- 
pose warlike or hostile to any human being. Like the dove 
from the ark, she had put forth only to find rest. Solemn 
supplications on the shore of the sea, in Holland, had in- 
voked for her, at her departure, the blessings of Provi- 
dence. The stars which guided her were the unobscured 
constellations of civil and religious liberty. Her deck was 
the altar of the living God. Fervent prayers on bended 
knees, mingled, morning and evening, with the voices of 
ocean and the sighing of the wind in her shrouds. Every 
prosperous breeze, which, gently swelling her sails, helped 
the Pilgrims onward in their course, awoke new anthems of 
praise ; and when the elements were wrought into fury, 
neither the tempest, tossing their fragile bark like a feather, 
nor the darkness and howling of the midnight storm, ever 
disturbed, in man or woman, the firm and settled purpose 
of their souls, to undergo all, and to do all, that the meekest 
patience, the boldest resolution, and the highest trust in 
God could enable human beings to suffer or to perform. 

29. Some differences may, doubtless, be traced at this 
day between the descendants of the early colonists of Vir- 
ginia and those of New England, owing to the different 
influences and different circumstances under which the 
respective settlements were made ; but only enough to 
create a pleasing variety in the midst of a general family 
resemblance. 

" Facies non omBibns una, 
Nee diversa tarnen ; qualem decet esse sororum." ' 

^ " The featiires are not the same in all, nor yet are thev different ; 
they are snch as sisters ought to have." — Ovid, Met.^ ii., 13. 



44 DANIEL WEBSTER 

But the habits^ sentiments, and objects of both soon be- 
came modified by local causes, growing out of their con- 
dition in the New World ; and as this condition was 
essentially alike in both, and as both at once adopted the 
same general rules and principles of English jurisprudence, 
and became accustomed to the authority of representative 
bodies, these differences gradually diminished. They dis- 
appeared by the progress of time, and the influence of in- 
tercourse. The necessity of some degree of union and 
cooperation to defend themselves against the savage tribes, 
tended to excite in them mutual respect and regard. They 
fought together in the wars against France. The great 
and common cause of the Eevolution bound them to one 
another by new links of brotherhood ; and at length the 
present constitution of government united them happily 
and gloriously, to form the great republic of the world, 
and bound up their interests and fortunes, till the whole 
earth sees that there is now for them, in present possession 
as well as in future hope, but " One Country, One Consti- 
tution, and One Destiny. ^^ 

30. The colonization of the tropical region, and the 
whole of the southern parts of the continent, by Spain and 
Portugal, was conducted on other principles, under the in- 
fluence of other motives, and followed by far different 
consequences. From the time of its discovery, the Spanish 
Government pushed forward its settlements in America, 
not only with vigor, but w4th eagerness ; so that long be- 
fore the flrst permanent English settlement had been 
accomplished in what is now the United States, Spain had 
conquered Mexico, Peru, and Chili, and stretched her 
power over nearly all the territory she ever acquired on this 
continent. The rapidity of these conquests is to be ascribed 
in a great degree to the eagerness, not to say the rapacity, 
of those numerous bands of adventurers who were stimu- 
lated by individual interests and private hopes to subdue 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 45 

immense regions, and take possession of them in the name 
of the Crown of Spain. The mines of gold and silver were 
the incitements to these efforts, and accordingly settle- 
ments were generally made, and Spanish authority estab- 
lished immediately on the subjugation of territory^ that 
the native population might be set to work by their new 
Spanish masters in the mines. From these facts, the love 
of gold — gold not produced by industry, nor accumulated 
by commerce, but gold dug from its native bed in the 
bowels of the earth, and that earth ravished from its right- 
ful possessors by every possible degree of enormity, cruelty, 
and crime — was long the governing passion in Spanish w^ars 
and Spanish settlements in America. Even Columbus 
himself did not wholly escape the influence of this base 
motive. In his early voyages we find him passing from 
island to island, inquiring everywhere for gold ; as if God 
had opened the New World to the knowledge of the Old, 
only to gratify a passion equally senseless and sordid, and 
to offer up millions of an unoffending race of men to the 
destruction of the sword, sharpened both by cruelty and 
rapacity. And yet Columbus was far above his age and 
country. Enthusiastic, indeed, but sober, religious, and 
magnanimous ; born to great things, and capable of high 
sentiments, as his noble discourse before Ferdinand and 
Isabella, as well as the whole history of his life, shows. 
Probably he sacrificed much to the known sentiments of 
others, and addressed to his followers motives likely to in- 
fluence them. At the same time, it is evident that he him- 
self looked upon the world which he discovered as a world 
of wealth, all ready to be seized and enjoyed. 

31. The conquerors and the European settlers of Span- 
ish America were mainly military commanders and com- 
mon soldiers. The monarchy of Spain was not transferred 
to this hemisphere, but it acted in it, as it acted at home, 
through its ordinary means, and its true representative. 



46 DANIEL WEBSTEP 

military force. The robbery and destruction of the native 
race was the achievement of standing armies^ in the right of 
the King^ and by his authority, fighting in his name, for the 
aggrandizement of his power and the extension of his prerog- 
atives, with military ideas under arbitrary maxims, — a por- 
tion of that dreadful instrumentality by which a perfect des- 
potism governs a people. As there was no liberty in Spain, 
how could liberty be transmitted to Spanish colonies ? 

32. The colonists of English America were of the people, 
and a people already free. They were of the middle, in- 
dustrious, and already prosperous class, the inhabitants of 
commercial and manufacturing cities, among whom liberty 
first revived and respired, after a sleep of a thousand years 
in the bosom of the Dark Ages. Spain descended on the 
New World in the armed and terrible image of her mon- 
archy and her soldiery ; England approached it in the 
winning and popular garb of personal rights, ]oi^blic pro- 
tection, and civil freedom. England transplanted liberty 
to America ; Spain transplanted poAver. England, through 
the agency of private companies and the efforts of individ- 
uals, colonized this part of N"orth America by industrious 
individuals, making their own way in the wilderness, de- 
fending themselves against the savages, recognizing their 
right to the soil, and with a general honest purpose of in- 
troducing knowledge as well as Christianity among them. 
Spain swooped on South America like a vulture on its 
prey. Everything was force. Territories were acquired by 
fire and sword. Cities were destroyed by fire and sword. 
Hundreds of thousands of human beings fell by fire and 
sword. Even conversion to Christianity was attempted by 
fire and sword. 

33. Behold, then, fellow-citizens, the difference result- 
ing froui the operation of the two principles ! Hero, to- 
day, on the summit of Bunker Hill, and at the foot of this 
monument, behold the difference ! I would that the fifty 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 47 

tliousand voices present could proclaim it with a shout 
which should be heard over the globe. Our iuheritance 
was of liberty, secured and regulated by law and enlight- 
ened by religion and knowledge ; that of South America 
was of power, stern, unrelenting, tyrannical, military power. 
And now look to the consequences of the two principles on 
the general and aggregate happiness of the human race. 
Behold the results, in all the regions conquered by Cortes 
and Pizarro, and the contrasted results here. I suppose 
the territory of the United States may amount to one 
eighth, or one tenth, of that colonized by Spain on this 
continent ; and yet in all that vast region there are but be- 
tween one and two millions of people of European color 
and European blood, while in the United States there are 
fourteen millions who rejoice .in their descent from the 
people of the more northern part of Europe. 

34. But we may follow the difference in the original 
principle of colonization, and in its character and objects, 
still further. We must look to moral and intellectual re- 
sults ; we must consider consequences, not only as they 
show themselves in hastening or retarding the increase of 
population and the supply of physical wants, but in their 
civilization, improvement, and happiness. AVe must in- 
quire what progress has been made in the true science of 
liberty, in the knowledge of the great principles of self- 
government, and in the progress of man, as a social, moral, 
and religious being. 

35. I would not willingly say anything on this occasion 
discourteous to the new governments founded on the demo- 
lition of the power of the Spanish monarchy. They are 
yet on their trial, and I hope for a favorable result. But 
truth, sacred truth, and fidelity to the cause of civil lib- 
erty, compel me to say, that hitherto they have discovered 
quite too much of the spirit of that monarchy from which 
they separated themselves. Quite too frequent resort is 



48 DANIEL WEBSTEB 

made to military force ; and quite too mncli of the sub- 
stance of the people is consumed in maintaining armies^ 
not for defense against foreign aggression, but for enforc- 
ing obedience to domestic authority. Standing armies are 
the oppressive instruments for governing the people in the 
hands of hereditary and arbitrary monarchs. A military 
republic, a government founded on mock elections and 
supported only by the sword, is a movement indeed, but 
a retrograde and disastrous movement, from the regular 
and old-fashioned monarchical systems. If men would en- 
Joy the blessings of republican government, they must gov- 
ern themselves by reason, by mutual counsel and consulta- 
tion, by a sense and feeling of general interest, and by the 
acquiescence of the minority in the will of the majority, 
properly expressed ; and, above all, the military must be 
kept, according to the language of our Bill of Eights,^ in 
strict subordination to the civil authority. Wherever this 
lesson is not both lea,rned and practised, there can be no 
political freedom. Absurd, preposterous is it, a scoff and 
a satire on free forms of constitutional liberty, for frames 
of government to be prescribed by military leaders, and the 
right of suffrage to be exercised at the point of the sword. 
36. Making all allowance for situation and climate, it 
cannot be doubted by intelligent minds, that the difference 
now existing between North and South America is justly 
attributable, in a great degree, to political institutions in 
the Old World and in the New. And how broad that dif- 
ference is ! Suj)pose an assembly, in one of the valleys or 
on the side of one of the mountains of the southern half 
of the hemisphere, to be held, this day, in the neighbor- 
hood of a large city ; — what would be the scene presented ? 
Yonder is a volcano, flaming and smoking, but shedding 

' " Tlie military power shall always be lield in an exact subordination 
to the civil authority and be governed by it." — Constitution of Mas- 
sachusetts {11^^) , Declaration of Rights, Article XVII. 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 49 

no light, moral or intellectual. At its foot is tlie mine, 
sometimes yielding, perhaps, large gains to capital, but in 
which labor is destined to eternal and unrequited toil, and 
followed only by penury and beggary. The city is filled 
with armed men ; not a free people, armed and coming 
forth voluntarily to rejoice in a public festivity, but hire- 
ling troops, supported by forced loans, excessive imposi- 
tions on commerce, or taxes wrung from a half-fed and a 
half-clothed population. For the great there are palaces 
covered with gold ; for the poor there are hovels of the 
meanest sort. There is an ecclesiastical hierarchy, en- 
joying the wealth of princes ; but there are no means of 
education for the people. Do public improvements favor 
intercourse between place and jDlace ? So far from this, 
the traveller cannot pass from town to town without 
danger, every mile, of robbery and assassination. I would 
not overcharge or exaggerate this picture ; but its prin- 
cipal features are all too truly sketched. 

37. And how does it contrast with the scene now actually 
before us ? Look round upon these fields ; they are ver- 
dant and beautiful, well cultivated, and at this moment 
loaded with the riches of the early harvest. The hands 
which till them are those of the free OAvners of the soil, 
enjoying equal rights, and protected by law from oppres- 
sion and tyranny. Look to the thousand vessels in our 
sight, filling the harbor, or covering the neighboring sea. 
They are the vehicles of a profitable commerce, carried on 
by men who know that the profits of their hardy enter- 
prise, when they make them, are their own ; and this com- 
merce is encouraged and regulated by wise laws, and 
defended, when need be, by the valor and patriotism 
of the country. Look to that fair city, the abode of so 
much diffused wealth, so much general happiness and 
comfort, so much personal independence, and so much 
general knowledge, and not undistinguished, I may be per- 
4 



60 DANIEL WEBSTER 

mittecl to add, for liospitality and social refinement. She 
fears no forced contributions, no siege or sacking from 
military leaders of rival factions. The hundred temples 
in which her citizens worship God are in no danger of 
sacrilege. The regular administration of the laws en- 
counters no obstacle. The long processions of children 
and youth, which you see this day, issuing by thousands 
from her free schools, prove the care and anxiety with 
which a popular government provides for the education 
and morals of the people. EveryAvhere there is order ; 
everywhere there is security. Everywhere the law reaches 
to the highest and reaches to the lowest, to protect all in 
their rights, and to restrain all from wrong ; and over all 
hovers liberty ; that liberty for which our fathers fought 
and fell on this very spot, with her eye ever watchful 
and her eagle wing ever wide outspread. 

38. The colonies of Spain, from their origin to their 
end, were subject to the sovereign authority of the mother 
country. Their government, as well as their commerce, 
was a strict home monoi^oly. If we add to this the 
established usage of filling important posts in the adminis- 
tration of the colonies exclusively by natives of Old Spain, 
thus cutting off forever all hopes of honorable preferment 
from every man born in the "Western hemisphere, causes 
enough rise up before us at once to account fully for the 
subsequent history and character of these provinces. The 
viceroys and provincial governors of Spain were never at 
home in their governments in America. They did not feel 
that tliey were of the people whom they governed. Their 
official character and employment have a good deal of re- 
semblance to those of the proconsuls of Rome, in Asia, 
Sicily, and Gaul ; but obviously no resemblance to thoce 
of Carver and Winthrop,^ and very little to those of the 

' John Carver, first governor of Plvmoiitli Colony ; John Win- 
throp, governor of Massachusetts Colony. 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 51 

governors of Virginia after that Colony had established a 
popular House of Burgesses. 

39. The English colonists in America, generally speak- 
ing, were men who were seeking new homes in a new world. 
They brought with them their families and all that was 
most dear to them. This was especially the case with the 
colonists of Plymouth and Massachusetts. Many of them 
were educated men, and all possessed their full share, ac- 
cording to their social condition, of the knowledge and at- 
tainments of that age. The distinctive characteristic of 
their settlement is the introduction of the civilization of 
Europe into a wilderness, without bringing with it the 
political institutions of Europe. The arts, sciences, and 
literature of England came over with the settlers. That 
great portion of the common law which regulates the social 
and personal relations and conduct of men came also. Tlio 
jury came ; the liahcas corpus came ; the testamentary 
power came ; and the law of inheritance and descent came 
also, except that part of it which recognizes the rights of 
primogeniture,^ which either did not come at all, or soon 
gave way to the rule of equal partition of estates among 
children. But the monarchy did not come, nor the aristoc- 
racy, nor the church, as an estate of the realm. Political 
institutions were to be framed anew, such as should be 
adapted to the state of things. But it could not be doubt- 
ful what should be the nature and character of these insti- 
tutions. A general social equality prevailed among the 
settlers, and an equality of political rights seemed the nat- 
ural, if not the necessary consequence. After forty years 
of revolution, violence, and war, the people of France have 
placed at the head of the fundamental instrument of their 
government, as the great boon obtained by all their suffer- 
ings and sacrifices, the declaration that all Frenchmen are 

^ The right of the eldest son to inherit the undivided estate of his 
father. 



52 DANIEL WEBSTER 

equal before the law.^ What France has reached only by 
the expenditure of so much blood and treasure, and the 
perpetration of so much crime, the English colonists ob- 
tained by sim23ly cnanging their place, carrying with them 
the intellectual and moral culture of Euro|)e, and the per- 
sonal and social relations to which they were accustomed, 
but leaving behind their political institutions. It has been 
said with much vivacity, that the felicity of the American 
coliDuists consisted in their escape from the past. This is 
true so far as respects political establishments, but no fur- 
ther. They brought with them a full portion of all the 
riches of the past, in science, in art, in morals, religion, 
and literature. The Bible came with them. And it is 
not to be doubted, that to the free and universal reading 
of the Bible, in that age, men were much indebted for 
right views of civil liberty. The Bible is a book of faith, 
and a book of doctrine, and a book of morals, and a book 
of religion, of especial revelation from God ; but it is also 
a book which teaches man his own individual responsibility, 
his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow-man. 

40. Bacon and Locke, and Shakespeare and Milton, also 
came with the colonists. It was the object of the first set- 
tlers to form new political systems, but all that belonged 
to cultivated man, to family, to neighborhood, to social re- 
lations, accompanied them. In the "Doric phrase of one 
of our own historians, " they came to settle on bare crea- 
tion ; " but their settlement in the wilderness, nevertheless, 
was not a lodgment of nomadic tribes, a mere resting-place 
of roaming savages. It was the beginning of a permanent 
community, the fixed residence of cultivated men. Not 
only was English literature read, but English, good Eng- 
lisli, was spoken and Avritten, before the ax had made way 

^ " All Frenchmen, of wliatever rank and title, are eqnal before 
the law.'' — Constitutional Charter, adopted on the accession of Louis 
Philippe in 1830. 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 53 

to let in the sun upon the habitations and fields of Ply- 
mouth and Massachusetts. And whatever may be said to 
the contrary, a correct use of the English language is, at 
this day, more general throughout the United States than 
it is throughout England herself. 

41. But another grand characteristic is, that, in the 
English Colonies, political affairs were left to be managed 
by the colonists themselves. This is another fact wholly 
distinguishing them in character, as it has distinguished 
them in fortune, from the colonists of Spain. Here lies 
the foundation of that experience in self-government which 
has preserved order, and security, and regularity amidst 
the play of popular institutions. Home government was 
the secret of the prosperity of the North American settle- 
ments. The more distinguished of the New England colo- 
nists, with a most remarkable sagacity and a long-sighted 
reach into futurity, refused to come to America unless they 
could bring with them charters providing for the adminis- 
tration of their affairs in this country. They saw from the 
first the evils of being governed in the New AVorld by a 
power fixed in the Old. Acknowledging the general su- 
periority of the crown, they still insisted on the right of 
passing local laws, and of local administration. And his- 
tory teaches us the justice and the value of this determina- 
tion in the example of Virginia. The early attempts to set- 
tle that Colony failed, sometimes with the most melancholy 
and fatal consequences, from want of knowledge, care, and 
attention on the part of those who had the charge of their 
affairs in England ; and it was only after the issuing of the 
third charter, that its prosperity fairly commenced. The 
cause was, that by that third charter the people of Vir- 
ginia, for by this time they deserved to be so called, were 
allowed to constitute and establish the first popular repre- 
sentative assembly which ever convened on this continent, 
the Virginia House of Burgesses. 



54 DANIEL WEBSTER 

42. The great elements, then, of the American system 
of government, originally introdnced by the colonists, and 
which were early in operation, and ready to be developed, 
more and more, as the progress of events shonld justify or 
demand, were, — 

Escape from the existing political systems of Europe, 
including its religious hierarchies, but the continued pos- 
session and enjoyment of its science and arts, its literature, 
and its manners ; 

Home government, or the power of making in the Colony 
the municipal laws which were to govern it ; 

Equality of rights ; 

Representative assemblies, or forms of government found- 
ed on popular elections. 

VI. 43. Few topics are more inviting, or more fit for 
philosoj^hical discussion, than the effect on the happiness 
of mankind of institutions founded upon these principles ; 
or, in other words, the influence of the A^ew World upon 
the Old. 

44. Her obligations to Earope for science and art, laws, 
literature, and manners, America acknowledges as she 
ought, with respect and gratitude. The people of the 
United States, descendants of the English stock, grateful 
for the treasures of knowledge deriA^ed from their English 
ancestors, admit also, with thanks and filial regard, that 
among those ancestors, under the culture of Hampden and 
Sidney ^ and other assiduous friends, that se'ed of popular 
liberty first germinated, which on our soil has shot up to 
its full height, until its branches overshadow all the land. 

45. But America has not failed to make returns. If she 
has not wholly cancelled the obligation, or equalled it by 
others of like weight, she has, at least, made respectable 
advances towards repaying the debt. And she admits that, 

^ Algernon Sidney. 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 55 

standing in the midst of civilized nations and in a civilized 
age, a nation among nations, there is a high part which 
she is expected to act, for the general advancement of 
human interests and human welfare. 

40. American mines have filled the mints of Europe 
with the precious metals. The productions of the Ameri- 
can soil and climate have poured out their ahundance of 
luxuries for the tables of tlie rich, and of necessaries for 
tlie sustenance of the poor. Birds and animals of beauty 
and value have been added to the European stocks ; and 
transplantations from the unequalled riches of our forests 
have mingled themselves prof usely with the elms, and ashes, 
and druidical oaks of England. 

47. America has made contributions to Europe far more 
important. Who can estimate the amount, or the value, 
of the augmentation of the commerce of the world that has 
resulted from America ? Who can imagine to himself 
what would now be the shock to the Eastern Continent, if 
the Atlantic were no longer traversable, or if there were no 
longer American productions, or American markets ? 

48. But America exercises influences, or holds out ex- 
amples, for the consideration of the Old World, of a much 
higher, because they are of a moral and political character. 

49. America has furnished to Europe proof of the fact 
that popular institutions, founded on equality and the 
principle of representation, are capable of maintaining 
governments able to secure the rights of person, property, 
and reputation. 

50. America has proved that it is practicable to elevate 
the mass of mankind, — that portion which in Europe is 
called the laboring, or lower class, — to raise them to self- 
respect, to make them competent to act a part in the great 
right and great duty of self-government ; and she has 
proved that this may be done by education and the diffu- 
sion of knowledge. She holds out an example, a thousand 



56 DANIEL WEBSTER 

times more enconraging than ever was presented before, to 
those nine tenths of the human race who are born without 
hereditary fortune or liereditary rank. 

51. America has furnished to the world the character of 
Washington. And, if our American institutions had done 
nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the 
respect of mankind. 

52. Washington ! '' First in war, first in peace, and first 
in the hearts of his countrymen I""*^ Washington is all our 
own ! The enthusiastic veneration and regard in which 
the people of the United States hold him prove them to be 
worthy of such a countryman ; while his reputation abroad 
reflects the highest honor on his country. I would cheer- 
fully put the question to-day to the intelligence of Eurojoe 
and the world. What character of the centur}^, upon the 
whole, stands out in the relief of history, most pure, most 
respectable, most sublime ? and I doubt not, that, by a 
suffrage approaching to unanimity, the answer would be 
Washington ! 

53. The structure noAV standing before us, by its up- 
rightness, its solidity, its durability, is no unfit emblem of 
his character. His public virtues and public principles 
were as firm as the earth on which it stands ; his personal 
motives, as pure as the serene heaven in which its summit 
is lost. But, indeed, though a fit, it is an inadequate 
emblem. Towering high above the column which our 
hands have builded, beheld, not by the inhabitants of a 
single city or a single State, but by all tlie families of man, 
ascends the colossal grandeur of the character and life of 
Washington. In all the constituents of the one, in all the 
acts of the other, in all its titles to immortal love, admira- 
tion, and renown, it is an American production. It is the 

^ From the resolutions on the death of Washington drawn np by 
Henry Lee, and passed by the House of Representatives in December, 
1709, 



THE COMPLETION OF THE MONUMENT 57 

embodiment and vindication of our Transatlantic liberty. 
Born upon our soil, of parents also born upon it ; never for 
a moment having had sight of the Old World ; instructed, 
according to the modes of his time, only in the spare, 
plain, but wholesome elementary knowledge which our 
institutions provide for the children of the people ; grow- 
ing up beneath and penetrated by the genuine influences 
of American society ; living from infancy to manhood and 
age amidst our expanding, but not luxurious civilization ; 
partaking in our great destiny of labor, our long contest 
with unreclaimed nature and uncivilized man, our agony 
of glory, the war of Independence, our great victory of 
peace, the formation of the Union, and the establish- 
ment of the Constitution ; he is all, all our own ! Wash- 
ington is ours. That crowded and glorious life, 

"Where multitudes of virtues passed along, 
Each pressing foremost, in the mighty throng 
Ambitious to he seen, then making room 
For greater multitudes that were to come,'' — 

that life was the life of an American citizen. 

54. I claim him for America. In all the perils, in every 
darkened moment of the state, in the midst of the re- 
proaches of enemies and the misgiving of friends, I turn to 
that transcendent name for courage and for consolation. 
To him who denies or doubts whether our fervid liberty can 
be combined with law, with order, with the security of 
property, with the pursuits and advancement of happiness ; 
to him who denies that our forms of government are 
capable of producing exaltation of soul and the passion of 
true glory ; to him who denies that we have contributed 
anything to the stock of great lessons and great examples ; 
— to all these I reply by pointing to Washington ! 

VII. 55. And now, friends and fellow-citizens, it is time 
to bring this discourse to a close. 



58 DANIEL WEBSTER 

56. We have indulged in gratifying recollections of the 
2oast, in the prosperity and pleasures of the present, and in 
high hopes for the future. But let us remember that we 
have duties and obligations to perform, corresponding to 
the blessings which we enjoy. Let us remember the trust, 
the sacred trust, attaching to the rich inheritance which 
we have received from our fathers. Let us feel our per- 
sonal resj)onsibility, to the full extent of our power and in- 
fluence, for the preservation of the jDrinciples of civil and 
religious liberty. And let us remember that it is only 
religion, and morals, and knowledge, that can make men 
respectable .and happy, under any form of government. 
Let us hold fast the great truth, that communities are 
responsible, as well as individuals ; that no government is 
respectable which is not just ; that Avithout unspotted 
purity of public faith, without sacred public principle, 
fidelity, and honor, no mere forms of government, no 
machinery of laws, can give dignity to |)olitical society. 
In our day and generation let ns seek to raise and improve 
the moral sentiment, so that we may look, not for a de- 
graded, but for an elevated and improved future. And 
when both we and our children shall have been consigned to 
the house aj)pointed for all living, may love of country and 
pride of country glow with equal fervor among those to 
whom our names and our blood shall have descended ! 
And then, when honored and decrepit age shall lean 
against the base of this monument, and troops of in- 
genuous youtli shall be gathered round it, and when the 
one shall speak to the other of its objects, the purposes of 
its construction, and the great and glorious events with 
which it is connected, there shall rise from every youthful 
breast the ejaculation, "■ Thank God, I — I also — am ax 
Americax \" 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 

A DISCOURSE IN COMMEMORATION OF THE LIVES AND SERVICES OP 

JOHN ADAMS AND THOMAS JEFFERSON, DELIVERED 

IN FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, ON THE 3d 

OF AUGUST, 1826 



[The coincidence of the death of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams 
on the Fonrth of July, 1826, produced in the United States an impres 
sion that can be likened only to that which would be caused by some 
extraordinary natural phenomenon, such as an unexpected eclipse of 
the sun or the sudden disappearance of a planet. The death of either 
patriot on the Fourth, or the death of both on a less notable anniver- 
sary would have been deemed remarkable in an extreme degree. But 
that both should expire on the same day, and this day the anniver- 
sary — nay, more, the fiftieth anniversary — of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, — was a marvel beyond all precedent. Throughout the 
country, the emotions of the people, roused to an extraordinary pitch, 
found vent in commemorative services. In Boston these were of un- 
usual solemnity. Faneuil Hall, for the first time in its history, was 
draped in mourning. The most distinguished men of New England 
were invited to be present, and Mr. Webster was requested to deliver 
the memorial address. The appearance and manner of the speaker 
are thus described by an ej^e-witness : 

"Mr. Webster spoke in an orator's gown, and wore small-clothes. 
He was in the perfection of his manly beauty and strength; his form 
filled out to its finest proportions, and his bearing, as he stood before 
the vast multitude, that of absolute dignity and power. His manu- 
script lay on a small table near him, but I think he did not once refer 
to it. His manner of speaking was deliberate and commanding. 
When he came to the passage on eloquence, and to the words, ' It is 
action, noble, sublime, godlike action,' he stamped his foot repeatedly 
on the stage, his form seemed to dilate, and he stood, as that whole 



60 DANIEL WEBSTER 

audience saw and felt, tlie personification of what he so perfectly 
described. I never heard him when his manner was so grand and 
appropriate." — George Ticknor, quoted by Curtis in his " Life of Web- 
ster," vol. 1,, p. 275.] 

I; 1. This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first 
time^, fellow-citizens^badges of mourning shroud the columns 
and overhang the arches of this hall. These walls, which 
were consecrated, so long ago, to the cause of American lib- 
erty, which witnessed her infant struggles, and rung with the 
shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim, now, that distin- 
guished friends and champions of that great cause have 
fallen. It is right that it should be thus. The tears which 
flow, and the honors that are paid, when the founders of 
the republic die, give hope that the republic itself may be 
immortal. It is fit that, by public assembly and solemn 
observance, by anthem and by eulogy, we commemorate 
the services of national benefactors, extol their virtues, and 
render thanks to God for eminent blessings, early given 
and long continued, through their agency, to our favored 
country. 

2. Adams and Jefferson are no more ; and we are as- 
sembled, fellow-citizens, the aged, the middle-aged, and 
the young, by the spontaneous impulse of all, under the 
authority of the municipal government, with the presence 
of the chief magistrate of the Commonwealth, and others 
its official representatives, the University, and the learned 
societies, to bear our part in those manifestations of respect 
and gratitude whicli pervade the whole land. Adams and 
Jefferson are no more. On our fiftieth anniversary, the 
great day of national jubilee, in the very hour of public re- 
joicing, in the midst of echoing and reechoing voices of 
thanksgiving, while their own names were on all tongues, 
they took their flight together to the world of spirits. 

3. If it l)e true that no one can safely be pronounced 
happy while lie lives, if that event which terminates life 



ADAMS ANT) JEFFERSON 61 

can alone crown its honors and its giory^ what felicity is 
here ! The great epic of their lives^ how happily con- 
cluded ! Poetry itself has hardly terminated illustrious 
lives^ and finished the career of earthly renown, by such a 
consummation. If we had the power, we could not wish 
to reverse this dispensation of the Divine Providence. The 
great objects of life were accomplished, the drama was 
ready to be closed. It has closed ; our patriots have fallen ; 
but so fallen, at such age, with such coincidence, on such 
a day, that we cannot rationally lament that that end has 
come which we knew could not be long deferred. 

4. Neither of these great men, fellow-citizens, could 
have died, at any time, without leaving an immense void 
in our American society. They have been so intimately, 
and for so long a time, blended with the history of the 
country, and especially so united, in our thoughts and 
recollections, with the events of the Revolution, that the 
death of either would have touched the chords of public 
sympathy. We should have felt that one great link con- 
necting us with former times was broken ; that we had lost 
something more, as it were, of the presence of the Revolu- 
tion itself, and of the act of independence, and were driven 
on, by another great remove from the days of our country^s 
early distinction, to meet posterity, and to mix with the 
future. Like the mariner, whom the currents of the ocean 
and the winds carry along till he sees the stars which have 
directed his course and lighted his pathless way descend, 
one by one, beneath the rising horizon, we should have felt 
that the stream of time had borne us onward till another 
great luminary, whose light had cheered us and whose guid- 
ance we had followed, had sunk away from our sight. 

5. But the concurrence of their death on the anniversary 
of independence has naturally awakened stronger emotions. 
Both had been Presidents, both had lived to great age, both 
were early patriots, and both were distinguished and ever 



62 DANIEL WEBSTER 

honored by their immediate agency in the act of inde- 
pendence. It cannot but seem striking and extraordinary^ 
that these two should live to see the fiftieth year from the 
date of that act ; that they should comjolete that year ; and 
that then, on the day Avhich had fast linked forever their 
own fame with their country's glory, the heavens should 
open to receive them both at once. As their lives them- 
selves were the gifts of Providence, who is not willing to 
recognize in their haj^py termination, as well as in their 
long continuance, proofs that our country and its bene- 
factors are objects of his care ? 

6. Adams and Jefferson, I have said, are no more. 
As human beings, -indeed, they are no more. They are 
no more, as in 1776, bold and fearless advocates of in- 
dependence ; no more, as at subsequent periods, the head 
of the government ; no more, as we have recently seen 
them, aged and venerable objects of admiration and re- 
gard. They are no more. They are dead. But how 
little is there of the great and good which can die ! To 
their country they yet live, and live forever. They live 
in all that perpetuates the remembrance of men on earth ; 
in the recorded proofs of their OAvn great actions, in the 
offspring of their intellect, in the deep -engraved lines 
of public gratitude, and in the respect and homage of 
mankind. They live in their example ; and they live, 
emphatically, and will live, in the influence which their 
lives and efforts, their principles and opinions, now exer- 
cise, and will continue to exercise, on the affairs of men, 
not only in their own country, but throughout the civil- 
ized world. A superior and commanding human intellect, 
a truly great man," when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, 
is not a temjiorary flame, burning brightly for a while, 
and then giving place to returning darkness. It is rather 
a spark of fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with 
power to enkindle the common mass of human mind ; so 



AI)A3Ii^ A^D JEFFERSON 63 

that when it glimmers in its own decay^ and finally goes 
out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all 
light, all on fire, from the potent contact of its own spirit. 
Bacon died ; but the human understanding, roused by the 
touch of his miraculous wand to a perception of the true 
philosophy and the just mode of inquiring after truth, has 
kept on its course successfully and gloriously. Newton 
died ; yet the courses of the spheres are still known, and 
they yet move on by the laws which he discovered, and in 
the orbits which he saw and described for them in the in- 
finity of space. 

7. No two men now live, fellow-citizens, perhaps it 
may be doubted whether any two men have ever lived 
in one age, who, more than those we now commemorate, 
have impressed on mankind their own sentiments in regard 
to politics and government, infused their own opinions 
more deeply into the opinions of others, or given a more 
lasting direction to the current of human thought. Their 
work doth not perish with them. The tree Avhich they 
assisted to plant will flourish, although they water it and 
protect it no longer ; for it has struck its roots deep, it has 
sent them to the very centre ; no storm, not of force to 
burst the orb, can overturn it ; its branches spread wide ; 
they stretch their protecting arms broader and broader, 
and its top is destined to reach the heavens. We are not 
deceived. There is no delusion here. No age will come 
in which the American Revolution Avill appear less than it 
is, one of the greatest events in human history. No age 
will come in which it shall cease to be seen and felt, on 
either continent, that a mighty step, a great advance, not 
only in American affairs, but in human affairs, was made 
on the 4th of July, 1776. And no age will come, we trust, 
so ignorant or so unjust as not to see and acknowledge the 
efficient agency of those we now honor in producing that 
momentous event. 



64 DANIEL WEBSTER 

8. We are not assembled, therefore, fellow-citizens, as 
men oyenvlielmed with calamit}' by the sudden disruption 
of the ties of friendship or atfection, or as in despair for 
the republic by the untimely blighting of its hopes. Death 
has not surprised us by an unseasonable blow. We have, 
indeed, seen the tomb close, but it has closed only over 
mature years, over long-protracted public service, over the 
Aveakness of age, and over life itself only when the ends 
of living had been fulfilled. These suns, as they rose 
slowly and steadily, amidst clouds and storms, in their as- 
cendant, so they have not rushed from their meridian to 
sink suddenly in the west. Like the mildness, the serenity, 
the continuing benignity of a summer's day, they have 
gone down with slow-descending, grateful, long-lingering 
light ; and now that they are beyond the visible margin of 
the world, good omens cheer us from ^^the bright track of 
their fiery car "" ! 

9. There were many points of similarity in the lives and 
fortunes of these great men. They belonged to the same 
profession, and had pursued its studies and its practice, for 
unequal lengths of time indeed, but with diligence and 
effect. Both were learned and able lawyers. They were 
natives and inhabitants, respectively, of those two of the 
Colonies^ which at the Ee volution were the largest and 
most powerful, and which naturally had a lead in the 
political affairs of the times. When the Colonies became 
in some degree united by the assembling of a general Con- 
gress, they were brought to act together in its deliberations, 
not indeed at the same time, but both at early periods. 
Each had already manifested his attachment to the cause 
of the country, as well as his ability to maintain it, by 
printed addresses, public speeches, extensive correspond- 
ence, and Avhatever otlier mode could be adopted for the 
purpose of exposing the encroachments of the British 

' Jetfersou, of Virginia ; Adams, of Massachusetts. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSOIf 65 

Parliament^ and animating tlie people to a manly resist- 
ance. Both were not only decided, but early friends of 
independence. While others yet doubted, they were re- 
solved ; where others hesitated, they pressed forward. 
They were botli members of the committee for preparing 
the Declaration of Independence, and they constituted 
the subcommittee a|)pointed by the other members to make 
the draft. They left their seats in Congress, being called 
to other public employments, at periods not remote from 
each other, although one of them returned to it afterwards 
for a short time. Neither of them was of the assembly of 
great men which formed the present Constitution, and 
neither was at any time a member of Congress under its 
provisions. Both have been public ministers abroad, both 
Vice-Presidents and both Presidents of the United States. 
These coincidences are now singularly crowned and com- 
pleted. They have died together; and they died on the 
anniversary of liberty. 

10. When many of us were last in this place, fellow- 
citizens, it was on the day of that anniversary. We were 
met to enjoy the festivities belonging to the occasion, and 
to manifest our grateful homage to our political fathers. 
AYe did not, we could not here, forget our venerable neigh- 
bor^ of Quincy. ^We knew that we were standing, at a 
time of high and palmy prosperity, where he had stood in 
the hour of utmost peril ; that we saw nothing but liberty 
and security, where he had met the frown of poAver ; that 
we were enjoying everything, where he had hazarded every- 
thing ; and just and sincere plaudits rose to his name from 
the crowds which filled this area and hung over these 
galleries. He whose gratef nl duty it was to speak to us,^ 
on that day, of the virtues of our fathers, had, indeed, 
admonished us that time and years were about to level his 
venerable frame with the dust. But he bade us hope that 

J Adams. 2 jQgjai^ Quincy, Major of Boston, 



6e DANIEL WEBSTER 

" the sound of a nation^s joy, rushing from onr cities, 
ringing from onr valle^^s^ echoing from onr hills, might vet 
break the silence of his aged ear ; that the rising blessings 
of grateful millions might yet visit with glad light his de- 
caying vision/' Alas ! that vision was then closing for- 
ever. Alas ! the silence whicli was then settling on that 
aged ear was an everlasting silence ! For, lo ! in the very 
moment of our festivities, his freed sjnrit ascended to God 
who gave it ! Human aid and human solace terminate at 
the grave ; or we would gladly have borne him upAvard, on 
a nation's outspread hands: we Avould have accompanied 
him, and Avith the blessings of millions and the j)i*ayers of 
millions commended him to the Divine favor. 

11. While still indulging our thoughts on the coinci- 
dence of the death of this venerable man Avith the anni- 
versary of independence, Ave learn that Jefferson, too, has 
fallen ; and that these aged patriots, these illustrious fel- 
low-laborers, have left our Avorld together. May not such 
events raise the suggestion that they are not undesigned, 
and that Heaven does so order things as sometimes to 
attract strongly the attention and excite the thoughts of 
men ? The occurrence has added new interest to our 
anniversary, and Avill be remembered in all time to 
come. 

II. r2. The occasion, felloAv-citizens, requires some ac- 
count of the lives and services of John Adams and Thomas 
Jefferson. This duty must necessarily be performed Avith 
great brevity, and in the discharge of it I shall be obliged 
to confine myself, principally, to those parts of their his- 
tory and character which belonged to them as public men. 

13. John Adams was born at Quincy, tlien part of the 
ancient toAvn of Braintree, on the 19th day of October 
(old style), 1735. He AA^as a descendant of the Puritans, 
his ancestors having early emigrated from England and 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 67 

settled in Massachusetts. Discovering ^ in childhood a 
strong love of reading and of knowledge, together with 
marks of great strength and activity of mind, proj^er care 
was taken by his worthy father to provide for his edu- 
cation. He pursued his youthful studies in Braintree, 
under Mr. Marsh, a teacher whose fortune it was that 
Josiah Quincy, Jr., as well as the subject of these remarks, 
should receive from him his instruction in the rudiments 
of classical literature. Having been admitted, in 1751, a 
member of Harvard College, Mr. Adams was graduated, in 
course, in 1755 ; and on the catalogue of that institution, 
his name, at the time of his death, was second among the 
living alumni, being preceded only by that of the vener- 
able Holyoke.^ With what degree of reputation he left 
the university is not now precisely known. We know 
only that he was distinguished in a class which numbered 
Locke and Hemmenway ^ among its members. Choosing 
the law for his profession, he commenced and prosecuted 
its studies at Worcester under the direction of Samuel 
Putnam, a gentleman whom he has himself described as 
an acute man, an able and learned lawyer, and as being in 
large professional practice at that time. In 1758 he was 
admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of the 
law in Braintree. He is understood to have made his first 
considerable effort, or to have attained his first signal suc- 
cess, at Plymouth, on one of those occasions which furnish 
the earliest opportunity for distinction to many young men 
of the profession, a jury trial and a criminal cause. His 
business naturally grew with his reputation, and his resi- 

1 Displaying, 

2 " I myself remember Dr. Holyoke, of Salem, son of a president of 
Harvard College, wlio answered a toast proposed in liis honor at a 
dinner given to liim on his hundredth birthday [1828]." — O, W. 
Holmes, Over the T€acu2JS, p. 26. 

- Samuel Locke, president of Harvard 1770-73 ; Moses Hemmenway, 
a noted Massachusetts clergyman. 



68 DANIEL WEBSTEB 

dence in the yicinitj^ afforded the opportnnit}^, as his grow- 
ing eminence gave the power, of entering on a larger field 
of practice in the capital. In 1766 he removed his resi- 
dence to Boston, still continuing his attendance on the 
neighboring circuits, and not unfrequently called to remote 
parts of the Province. In 1770 his professional firmness 
was brought to a test of some severity, on the apj)lication 
of the British officers and soldiers to undertake their de- 
fence, on the trial of the indictments found against them 
on account of the transactions of the memorable 5th of 
March. ^ He seems to have thought, on this occasion, that 
a man can no more abandon the proper duties of his pro- 
fession than he can abandon other duties. The event 
proved that, as he judged well for his own reputation, so, 
too, he judged well for the iiiterest and permanent fame of 
his countrj^ The result of that trial proved that, notwith- 
standing the high degree of excitement then existing in 
consequence of the measures of the British Government, a 
jury of Massachusetts would not deprive the most reckless 
enemies, even the officers of that standing army quartered 
among them, which they so perfectly abhorred, of any 
part of that protection which the law, in its mildest and 
most indulgent interpretation, affords to persons accused 
of crimes. 

14. Without following Mr. Adams's professional course 
further, suffice it to say, that on the first establishment of 
the judicial tribunals under the authority of the State, in 
1776, he received an offer of the high and responsible sta- 
tion of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of ^lassa- 
chusetts. But he was destined for another and a different 
career. From early life the bent of his mind was toward 
politics ; a propensity which the state of the times, if it did 
not create, doubtless very much strengthened. Public 
subjects must have occupied the thoughts and filled up 
1 The so-called " Boston Massacre." 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 69 

the conversation in the circles in which he then moyed ; 
and the interesting questions at that time just arising could 
not but seize on a mind like his, ardent, sanguine, and 
patriotic. A letter, fortunately preserved, written by him 
at Worcester, so early as the 12th of October, 1755, is a 
proof of very comprehensive views, and uncommon depth 
of reflection, in a young man not yet quite twenty. In 
this letter he predicted the transfer of power, and the es- 
tablishment of a new seat of empire in America ; he pre- 
dicted, also, the increase of population in the Colonies ; 
and anticipated their naval distinction, and foretold that 
all Europe combined could not subdue them. All this is 
said, not on a public occasion or for effect, but in the style 
of sober and friendly correspondence, as the result of his 
own thoughts. " I sometimes retire," said he, at the close 
of the letter, '^ and, laying things together, form some re- 
flections pleasing to myself. The produce of one of these 
reveries you have read above. ''^ This prognostication, so 
early in his own life, so early in the history of the country, 
of independence, of vast increase of numbers, of naval 
force, of such augmented power as might defy all Europe, 
is remarkable. It is more remarkable that its author should 
live to see fulfilled to the letter what could have seemed to 
others, at the time, but the extravagance of youthful 
fancy. His earliest political feelings were thus strongly 
American, and from this ardent attachment to his native 
soil he never departed. 

15. While still living at Quincy, and at the age of twenty- 
four, Mr. Adams was present, in this town, at the argu- 
ment before the Supreme Court respecting Writs of As- 
sistance,^ and heard the celebrated and patriotic speech of 
James Otis. Unquestionably, that was a masterly per- 
formance. No flighty declamation about liberty, no super- 

' Writs authorizing officers of the Crown to summon assistance and 
enter and search any house for dutiable merchandise. 



70 DANIEL WEBSTER 

ficial discussion of popular topics, it was a learned, pene- 
trating, convincing, constitutional argument, expressed in 
a strain of high and resolute patriotism. He grasped the 
question then pending between England and her Colonies 
with the strength of a lion ; and if he sometimes sported, 
it was only because the lion himself is sometimes playfuh 
Its success appears to have been as great as its merits, and its 
impression was widely felt. Mr. Adams himself seems never 
to have lost the feeling it produced, and to have entertained 
constantly the fullest conviction of its important effects. 
" I do say,^' he observes, " in the most solemn manner, 
that Mr. Otis's Oration against AVrits of Assistance breathed 
into this nation the breath of life." 

1(3. In 1765 Mr. Adams laid before the public, anony- 
mously, a sei'ies of essays, afterwards collected in a voL 
ume in London, under the title of ^^ A Dissertation on th«s 
Canon and Feudal Law." The object of this woj'k was* 
to show that our New England ancestors, in consenting 
to exile themselves from their native land, were actuated 
mainly by the desire of delivering themselves from the 
power of the hierarchy, and from the monarchical jind 
ai'istocratical systems of the other continent ; and to make 
this truth bear with effect on the politics of the times. Its 
tone is uncommonly bold and animated for that period. 
He calls on the people, not only to defend, but to study 
and understand, their rights and privileges ; urges earnestly 
the necessity of diffusing general knowledge ; invokes the 
clergy and the bar, the colleges and academies, and all 
others who have the ability and the means to expose the 
insidious designs of arbitrary power, to resist its approaches, 
and to be jDersuaded that there is a settled design on foot 
to enslave all America. '^ 13e it remembered," says the 
author, " that liberty must, at all hazards, be supported. 
We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we 
had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for U3, at 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 71 

the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and 
their blood. And liberty cannot be preserved without a 
general, knowledge among the people, who have a right, 
from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great 
Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them under- 
standings and a desire to know. But, besides this, they 
have a right, an indisputable, nnalienable, indefeasible, 
divine right, to that most dreaded and envied kind of 
knowledge, I mean of the characters and conduct of their 
rulers. Eulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and 
trustees for tlie jieople ; and if the cause, tlie interest and 
trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the 
people have aright to revoke the authority that they them- 
selves have deputed, and to constitute abler and better 
agents, attorneys, and trustees." 

17. The citizens of this town conferred on Mr. Adams 
his first political distinction, and clothed him with his 
first political trust, by electing him one of their represen- 
tatives, in 1770. Before this time he had become exten- 
sively known throughout the Province, as well by the part 
he had acted in relation to public affairs, as by the exer- 
cise of his professional ability. He was among those who 
took the deepest interest in the controversy with England, 
and whether in or out of the legislature, his time and 
talents were alike devoted to the cause. In the years 1773 
and 1774 he was chosen a Councillor by the members of the 
General Court, but rejected by Governor Hutchinson in 
the former of those years, and by Governor Gage in the 
latter. 

18. The time was now at hand, however, when the 
affairs of the Colonies urgently demanded united counsels 
throughout the country. An open rupture with the parent 
state appeared inevitable, and it was but the dictate of 
prudence that those who were united by a common in- 
terest and a common danger should protect that interest 



72 DANIEL WEBSTER 

and guard against that danger by united efforts. A general 
Congress of Delegates from all the Colonies having been 
proposed and agreed to^ the House of Eepresentatives^, on 
the 17tli of June, 1774, elected James Bowdoin, Thomas 
Gushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Eobert Treat 
Paine, delegates from Massachusetts. This a|)pointment 
was made at Salem, where the General Court had been 
convened by Governor Gage, in the last hour of the exist- 
ence of a House of Representatives under the Provincial 
Charter. While engaged in this important business, the 
Governor, having been informed of what was passing, sent 
his secretary with a message dissolving the General Court. 
The secretary, finding the door locked, directed the mes- 
senger to go in and inform the Speaker that the secretary 
was at the door with a message from the Governor. The 
messenger returned, and informed the secretary that the 
orders of the House were that the doors should be kept 
fast ; whereupon the secretary soon after read upon the 
stairs a proclamation dissolving the General Court. Thus 
terminated, forever, the actual exercise of the political 
power of England in or over Massachusetts. The four 
last-named delegates accepted their appointments, and 
took their seats in Congress the first day of its meeting, 
the 5th of September, 1774, in Philadelphia. 

19. The proceedings of the first Congress are well known, 
and have been universally admired. It is in vain that we 
would look for superior proofs of wisdom, talent, and pa- 
triotism. Lord Chatham said, that, for himself, he must 
declare that he had studied and admired the free states of 
antiquity, the master states of the world, but that for 
solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of con- 
clusion, no body of men could stand in preference to this 
Congress. It is hardly inferior praise to say, that no pro- 
duction of that great man himself can be pronounced 
superior to several of the papers published as tlie proceed- 



AJDAIIS AND JEFFERSON 73 

ings of this most able, most firm, most patriotic assembly. 
There is, indeed, nothing superior to them in the range of 
political disquisition. They not only embrace, illustrate, 
and enforce everything which political philosophy, the 
love of liberty, and the spirit of free inquiry had antece- 
dently produced, but they add new and striking views of 
their own, and apply the whole, with irresistible force, in 
support of the cause which had drawn them together. 

20. Mr, Adams was a constant attendant on the delibera- 
tions of this body, and bore an active part in its important 
measures. He was of the committee to state the rights of 
the Colonies, and of that also which reported the Address 
to the King. 

III. 21. As it was in the Continental Congress, fellow- 
citizens, that those whose deaths have given rise to this oc- 
casion were first brought together, and called upon to unite 
their iijdustry and their ability in the service of the coun- 
try, let us now turn to the other of these distinguished 
men, and take a brief notice of his life up to the period 
when he appeared within the walls of Congress. 

22. Thomas Jefferson, descended from ancestors who 
had been settled in Virginia for some generations, was born 
near the spot on which he died, in the county of Albe- 
marle, on the 2d of April (old style), 1743. His youthful 
studies were pursued in the neighborhood of his father's 
residence until he was removed to the College of William 
and Mary, the highest honors of which he in due time re- 
ceived. Having left the college with reputation, he ap- 
plied himself to the study of the law under the tuition of 
George Wythe, one of the highest judicial' names of which 
that State can boast. At an early age he was elected a 
member of the legislature, in which he had no sooner ap- 
peared than he distinguished himself by knowledge, capac- 
ity, and promptitude. 



74: DANIEL WEBSTER 

23. Mr. Jefferson a^Dpears to have been imbned with an 
early love of letters and science^ and to have cherished a 
strong disposition to pursue these objects. To the physi- 
cal sciences, especially, and to ancient classic literature, he 
is understood to have had a warm attachment, and never 
entirely to have lost sight of them in the midst of the busi- 
est occupations. But the times were times for action, 
rather than for contemplation. The country was to be de- 
fended, and to be saved, before it could be enjoyed. Phil- 
osophic leisure and literary pursuits, and even the objects 
of professional attention, were all necessarily postponed to 
the urgent calls of the public service. The exigency of 
the country made the same demand on Mr. Jefferson that 
it made on others who had the ability and the disposition 
to serve it ; and he obeyed the call ; thinking and feeling 
in this respect with the great Eoman orator : ^' Qnis enim 
est tam cupidus in perspicienda cognoscendaque rerum na- 
tura, ut, si ei tractanti contemplantique res cognitione 
dignissimas subito sit allatum periculum discrimenque 
l^atrige, cui subvenire opitularique possit, non ilia omnia 
relinquat atque abjiciat, etiam si dinumerare se stellas, aut 
metiri mundi magnitudinem posse arbitretur ? " ^ 

24. Entering with all his heart into the cause of liberty, 
his ability, patriotism, and power with the ^q\\ naturally 
drew upon him a large participation in the most important 
concerns. AYherever he was, there was found a soul de- 
voted to the cause, power to defend and maintain it, and 
willingness to incur all its hazards. In 1114 he ^^ublished 

' '' For who is so zealous iu perceiving and comprehending the nat- 
ure of things, that if, while he is treating and meditating the highest 
subjects of thought, he suddenly is made aware of the peril and crisis 
of that country which it is his privilege to help and to succor, he will 
not abandon and cast aside all those studies, even if he should deem 
liimself fit to number the stars or to measure the bigness of the 
world ?"— Cicero, De Officm, I. 43. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 75 

a " Summary View of tlie Rights of British America/^ a 
vahiable production among those intended to show the 
dangers which threatened the liberties of the country^ and 
to encourage the people in their defence. In June, 1775, 
he was elected a member of the Continental Congress, as 
successor to Peyton Eandolph, who had resigned his place 
on account of ill-health, and took his seat in that body on 
the 21st of the same month. 

IV. 25. And now, fellow-citizens, without pursuing the 
biography of these illustrious men further, for the present, 
let us turn our attention to the most prominent act of their 
lives, their participation in the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. 

26. Preparatory to the introduction of that important 
measure, a committee, at the head of which was Mr. Adams, 
had reported a resolution, which Congress adopted on the 
10th of May, recommending, in substance, to all the Col- 
onies which had not already established governments suited 
to the exigencies of their affairs, to adopt such government 
as would, in the opinion of the representatives of the peo- 
ple, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their con- 
stituents in particular, and America in general. 

27. This significant vote was soon followed by the direct 
proposition which Richard Henry Lee had the honor to 
submit to Congress, by resolution, on the seventh day of 
June. The published journal does not expressly state it, 
but there is no doubt, I suppose, that this resolution was 
in the same words, when originally submitted by Mr. Lee, 
as when finally passed. Having been discussed on Satur- 
day, the 8th, and Monday, the 10th of June, this resolution 
was on the last mentioned day postponed for further con- 
sideration to the first day of July ; and at the same time it 
Avas voted, that a committee be appointed to prepare a Dec- 
laration to the effect of the resolution. This committee 



76 DANIEL WEBSTER 

was elected by ballot on the following day, and consisted 
of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. 

28. It is usual, when committees are elected by ballot, 
that their members should be arranged in order, according 
to the number of votes which each has received. Mr. Jef- 
ferson, therefore, had received the highest, and Mr. Adams 
the next highest number of votes. ^ The difference is said 
to have been but of a single vote. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. 
Adams, standing thus at the head of the committee, were 
requested by the other members to act as a subcommittee to 
prepare the draft ; and Mr. Jefferson drew up the j)aper. 
The original draft, as brought by him from his study, and 
submitted to the other members of the committee, with 
interlineations in the handwriting of Dr. Franklin, and 
others in that of Mr. Adams, was in Mr. Jefferson^s j)osses- 
sion at the time of his death. The merit of this paper is 
Mr. Jefferson's. Some changes were made in it at the sug- 
gestion of other members of the committee, and others by 
Congress while it was under discussion. But none of them 
altered the tone, the frame, the arrangement, or the gen- 
eral character of the instrument. As a composition, the 
Declaration is Mr. Jefferson^s. It is the ^^roduction of his 
mind, and the high honor of it belongs to him, clearly and 
absolutely. 

29. It has sometimes been said, as if it were a deroga- 
tion from the merits of this paper, that it contains nothing 
new ; that it only states grounds of proceeding and presses 
topics of argument which had often been stated and pressed 
before. But it was not the object of the Declaration to 
produce anything new. It was not to invent reasons for 

' " Of this committee Mr. Lee would doubtless have been the chair- 
man, had he not been already on his way to Virginia to attend the 
sick-bed of his wife. His associate, Thomas Jefferson, was named in 
his place." — Higginson's Larger History of the United States, p. 2G8. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 77 

independence, but to state those which governed the Con- 
gress. For great and sufficient causes it Avas proposed to 
declare independence ; and the proper business of the 
paper to be drawn was to set forth those causes, and Justify 
the authors of the measure, in any event of fortune, to the 
country and to posterity. The cause of American inde- 
pendence, moreover, was now to be presented to the world 
in such manner, if it might so be, as to engage its sym- 
pathy, to command its respect, to attract its admiration ; 
and in an assembly of most able and distinguished men, 
Thomas Jefferson had the high honor of being the select- 
ed advocate of this cause. To say that he performed his 
great work well would be doing him injustice. To say 
that he did excellently well, admirably well, would be in- 
adequate and halting praise. Let us rather say, that he so 
discharged the duty assigned him, that all Americans may 
well rejoice that the work of drawing the title-deed of their 
liberties devolved upon him. 

30. With all its merits, there are those who have thought 
that there was one thing in the Declaration to be regretted ; 
and that is, the asperity and apparent anger with which it 
speaks of the person of the king ; the industrious ability 
with which it accumulates and charges upon him all the 
injuries which the Colonies had suffered from the mother 
country. Possibly some degree of injustice, now or here- 
after, at home or abroad, may be done to the character of 
Mr. Jefferson, if this part of the Declaration be not placed 
in its proper light. Anger or resentment, certainly much 
less personal reproach and invective, could not properly 
find place in a composition of such high dignity and of such 
lofty and permanent character. 

31. A single reflection on the original ground of dispute 
between England and the Colouies is sufficient to remove 
any unfavorable impression in this respect. 

32. The inhabitants of all the Colonies, while Colonies, 



78 DANIEL WEBSTER 

admitted themselves bound by their allegiance to the king ; 
but they disclaimed altogether the authority of Parlia- 
ment ; holding themselves^ in this respect, to resemble the 
condition of Scotland and Ireland before the respective 
unions of those kingdoms with England, when they ac- 
knowledged allegiance to the same king, but had each its 
separate legislature. The tie, therefore, whicli our Eevo- 
lution was to break, did not subsist between us and the 
British Parliament, or between us and the British Govern- 
ment in the aggregate, but directly between us and the 
king himself. The Colonies had never admitted them- 
selves subject to Parliament. That was precisely the point 
of the original controversy. They had uniformly denied 
that Parliament had authority to make laws for them. 
There was, therefore, no subjection to Parliament to be 
thrown off. But allegiance to the king did exist, and had 
been uniformly acknowledged ; and down to 1775 the most 
solemn assurances had been given that it was not intended 
to break that allegiance, or to throw it otf. Therefore, as 
the direct object and only effect of the Declaration, accord- 
ing to the principles on which the controversy had been 
maintained on our part, were to sever the tie of allegiance 
which bound us to the king, it was properly and necessarily 
founded on acts of the crown itself, as its justifying causes. 
Parliament is not so much as mentioned in the whole in- 
strument.^ When odious and oppressive acts are referred 
to, it is done by charging the king with confederating with 
others ''in pretended acts of legislation •/' the object being 
constantly to hold the king himself directly responsible for 
those measures which were tlie grounds of separation. 
Even the precedent of tlie English Eevolution was not 
overlooked, and in this case, as well as in that, occasion was 

' The words " sabmission to their parliament was no part of our 
constitution" were in the original draft of the Declaration, but were 
stricken out by vote of the Congress. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 70 

found to say that the king had abdicated the government.^ 
Consistency with the principles upon which resistance 
began^ and with all the previous state papers issued by 
Congress^ required that the Declaration should be bottomed 
on the misgovernment of the king ; and^ therefore^ it v/as 
properly framed with that aim and to that end. The king 
was known, indeed, to have acted, as in other cases, by his 
ministers, and with his Parliament ; but as our ancestors 
had never admitted themselves subject either to ministers 
or to Parliament, there were no reasons to be given for 
now refusing obedience to their authority. This clear and 
obvious necessity of founding the Declaration on the mis- 
conduct of the king himself gives to that instrument its 
personal application, and its character of direct and ^^ointed 
accusation. 

33. The Declaration having been reported to Congress 
by the committee, the resolution itself was taken up and 
debated on the first day of July, and again on the second, 
on which last day it w^as agreed to and adopted, in these 
words : — 

" Resolved, That these united Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that 
all political connection between them and the state of 
Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. ^^ 

34. Having thus passed the main resolution. Congress 
proceeded to consider the reported draft of the Declaration. 
It was discussed on the second, and third, and fourth days 
of the month, in committee of the whole ; and on the last 
of those days, being reported from that committee, it re- 
ceived the final approbation and sanction of Congress. It 

' The Commons, in 1689, after King James II. liad fled from 
London, voted that the King, " having withdrawn himself out of the 
kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is there- 
by vacant." 



80 DANIEL WEBSTER 

was ordered, at the same time, that copies be sent to the 
several States, and that it be proclaimed at the head of the 
army. The Declaration thus published did not bear the 
names of the members, for as yet it had not been signed 
by them. It was authenticated, like other papers of the 
Congress, by the signatures of the President and Secretary. 
On the 19th of July, as appears by the secret journal, 
Congress "Resolved, That the Declaration, passed on the 
fourth, be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title 
and style of '^ The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen 
United States of America ; ' and that the same, when en- 
grossed, be signed by every member of Congress." And 
on the second day of August following, " the Declaration, 
being engrossed and compared at the table, was signed by 
the members. "" So that it happens, fellow- citizens, that 
we pay these honors to their memory on the anniversary 
of that day (2d of August) on which these great men ac- 
tually signed their names to the Declaration. The Decla- 
ration was thus made, that is, it jjassed and was adopted as 
an act of Congress, on the 4th of July ; it was then signed, 
and certified by the President and Secretary, like other 
acts. The 4th of July, therefore, is the anniversary of 
the Declaration. But the signatures of the members pres- 
ent were made to it, being then engrossed on parchment, 
on the second day of August. Absent members afterwards 
signed, as they came in ; and, indeed, it bears the names 
of some who were not chosen members of Congress until 
after the 4th of July. The interest belonging to the sub- 
ject will be sufficient, I hope, to justify these details. 

35. The Congress of the Revolution, fellow-citizens, sat 
with closed doors, and no report of its debates was ever 
made. The discussion, therefore, which accompanied this 
great measure lias never been preserved, except in memory 
and by tradition. But it is, I believe, doing no injustice 
to others to say, ihat the general opinion was, and uni- 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 81 

formly has been, that in debate, on the side of indepen- 
dence, John Adams had no eqnal. The great author of 
the Declaration himself has expressed that opinion uni- 
formly and strongly. ^''John Adams/^ said he, in the 
hearing of him who has now the honor to address you, 
^^ John Adams was our colossus on the floor. Not grace- 
ful, not elegant, not always fluent in his public addresses, 
he yet came out with a power, both of thought and of ex- 
pression, which moved us from our seats. ^' 

36. For the part which he was here to perform, Mr. 
Adams doubtless was eminently fitted. He possessed a 
bold spirit, which disregarded danger, and a sanguine re- 
liance on the goodness of the cause, and the virtues of the 
people, which led him to overlook all obstacles. His char- 
acter, too, had been formed in troubled times. He had 
been rocked in the early storms of the controversy, and 
had acquired a decision and a hardihood proportioned to 
the severity of the discipline which he had undergone. 

37. He not only loved the American cause devoutly, but 
had studied and understood it. It was all familiar to him. 
He had tried his powers on the questions which it in- 
volved, often and in various ways ; and had brought to 
their consideration whatever of argument or illustration 
the history of his own country, the history of England, or 
the stores of ancient or of legal learning could furnish. 
Every grievance enumerated in the long catalogue of the 
Declaration had been the subject of his discussion, and the 
object of his remonstrance and reprobation. From 1760, 
the Colonies, the rights of the Colonies, the liberties of 
the Colonies, and the wrongs inflicted on the Colonies, had 
engaged his constant attention ; and it has surprised those 
who have had the opportunity of witnessing it, with what 
full remembrance and with what prompt recollection he 
could refer, in his extreme old age, to every act of Parlia- 
ment affecting the Colonies^ distinguishing and stating 

6 



82 DANIEL WEBSTER 

tlieir respective titles, sections, and provisions ; and to all 
tlie Colonial memorials, remonstrances, and petitions, Avitli 
wliatever else belonged to the intimate and exact history 
of the times from that year to 1775. It was, in his own 
judgment, between these years that the American people 
came to a full understanding and thorough knowledge of 
their rights, and to a fixed resolution of maintaining them ; 
and bearing himself an active part in ail important trans- 
actions, the controversy with England being then in effect 
the business of his life, facts, dates, and particulars made 
an impression which was never effaced. He was prepared, 
therefore, b}^ education and discipline, as well as by natu- 
ral talent and natural temperament, for the part which he 
was now to act. 

38. The eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general 
character, and formed, indeed, a part of it. It was bold, 
manly, and energetic ; and such the crisis required. When 
public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, 
when great interests are at stake, and strong passions ex- 
cited, nothing is valuable in speech farther than as it is 
connected with high intellectual and moral endowments. 
Clearness, force, and earnestness are the qualities which 
produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not 
consist in speech. It cannot be brought from far. Labor 
and learning may toil for it, but they will toil in vain. 
Words and phrases may be marshalled in every way, but 
they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in the 
subject, and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense 
expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire to it ; 
they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the 
outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting 
forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native 
force. The graces taught in the schools, the costly orna- 
ments and studied contrivances of speech, shock and dis- 
gust men, when their own lives, and the fate of their 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 83 

wives, their children, and their country, hang on the de- 
cision of the hour. Then words have lost their power, 
rhetoric ^ is vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. 
Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued, as in 
the presence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is elo- 
quent ; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear concep- 
tion, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high pur- 
pose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on 
the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, 
and urging the whole man onward, right onward to his 
object — this, this is eloquence ; or rather it is something- 
greater and higher than all eloquence, it is action, noble, 
sublime, godlike action. 

39. In July, 1776, the controversy had passed the stage of 
argument. An appeal had been made to force, and oppos- 
ing armies were in the field. Congress, then, was. to de- 
cide whether the tie which had so long bound us to the 
parent state was to be severed at once, and severed for- 
ever. All the Colonies had signified their resolution to 
abide by this decision, and the people looked for it with 
the most intense anxiety. And surely, fellow-citizens, 
never, never were men called to a more important political 
deliberation. If we contemplate it from the point where 
they then stood, no question could be more full of interest ; 
if we look at it now, and judge of its importance by its 
effects, it appears of still greater magnitude. 

40. Let us, then, bring before us the assembly which 
was about to decide a question thus big with the fate of 
empire. Let us open their doors and look in upon their 
deliberations. Let us survey the anxious and careworn 
countenances, let us hear the firm-toned voices of this band 
of patriots. 

41. Hancock presides over the solemn sitting ; and one 
of those not yet prepared to pronounce for absolute inde- 

1 That is, verbal ornamentation. 



84 DANIEL WEBSTER 

pendeuce is on the flooi% and is urging his reasons for dis- 
senting from the Declaration. 

42. '^ Let us pause ! This step^ once taken, cannot be 
retraced. This resolution, once passed, will cut olf all hope 
of reconciliation. If success attend the arms of England, 
we shall then be no longer Colonies, with charters and with 
privileges ; these will all be forfeited by this act ; and we 
shall be in the condition of other conquered j^eople, at the 
mercy of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready 
to run the hazard ; but are we ready to carry the country 
to that length ? Is success so probable as to justify it ? 
Where is the military, where the naval power, by which we 
are to resist the whole strength of the arm of England ? — 
for she will exert that strength to the utmost. Can we rely 
on the constancy and perseverance of the people ? or will 
they not act as the people of other countries have acted, and, 
wearied with a long war, submit, in tlie end, to a worse op- 
pression ? While we stand on our old ground, and insist 
on redress of grievances, we know we are right, and are 
not answerable for consequences. Nothing, then, can be 
imputed to us. But if we now change our object, carry 
our pretensions farther, and set up for absolute indepen- 
dence, we shall lose the sympathy of mankind. We shall 
no longer be defending what we possess, but struggling for 
something which we never did possess, and which we have 
solemnly and uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursu- 
ing from the very outset of the troubles. Abandoning 
thus our old ground, of resistance only to arbitrary acts of 
oppression, the nations will believe the whole to have been 
mere pretence, and they will look on us, not as injured, but 
as ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsibility. 
It will be on us, if, relinquishing the ground on which we 
have stood so long, and. stood so safely, we now proclaim 
independence, and carry on the war for that object, while 
these cities burn, these pleasant fields whiten and bleach 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 85 

with the bones of their owners, and these streams ran 
blood. It will be upon us, it will be upon us, if, failing to 
maintain this unseasonable and ill-judged Declaration, a 
sterner despotism, maintained by military power, shall be 
established over our posterity, when we ourselves, given up 
by an exhausted, a harassed, a misled people, shall have 
expiated our rashness and atoned for our presumption on 
the scaffold/^ 

43. It was for Mr. Adams to reply to arguments like 
these. We know his opinions, and we know his character. 
He would commence with his accustomed directness and 
earnestness. 

44. ^' Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give 
my hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that 
in the beginning we aimed not at independence. But 
there^s a Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice 
of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her 
own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, 
till independence is now within our grasp. We have but 
to reach forth to it, and it is ours. AVhy, then, should we 
defer the Declaration ? Is any man so weak as now to hope 
for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either 
safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own 
life and his own honor ? Are not you, sir, who sit in that 
chair, is not he, our venerable colleague near you, are you 
not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of 
punishment and of vengeance ? Out off from all hope of 
royal clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the 
power of England remains, but outlaws ? If we postpone 
independence, do we mean to carry on, or to give up, the 
war ? Do we mean to submit to the measures of Parlia- 
ment, Boston Port Bill, and all ? Do Ave mean to submit, 
and consent that we ourselves shall.be ground to powder, 
and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust ? 
I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. 



86 DANIEL WEBSTER 

J)o we intend to violate that most solemn obligation ever 
entered into by men, that plighting, before God, of our 
sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him forth to 
incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards 
of the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every ex- 
tremit}^, with our fortunes and our lives ? I know there is 
not a man here vvdio would not rather see a general con- 
flagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake sink it, 
than one jot or tittle of that j)lighted faith fall to the 
ground. For myself, having, twelve months ago in this 
place, moved you that George Washington be appointed 
commander of the forces raised or to be raised for defence 
of American liberty, may my right hand forget her cun- 
ning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I 
hesitate or waver in the supj^ort I give him. 

45. '^^The war, then, must goon. AVe must fight it 
through. And if the war must go on, why put off longer 
the Declaration of Independence ? That measure will 
strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The 
nations will then treat with us, which they never can do 
while we acknowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against 
our sovereign. Nay, I maintain that England herself will 
sooner treat for peace with us on the footing of indepen- 
dence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to acknowledge 
that her whole conduct towards us has been a course of 
injustice and oppression. Her pride will be less wounded 
by submitting to that course of things which now predes- 
tinates our independence than by yielding the j^oints in 
controversy to her rebellious subjects. The former she 
would regard as the result of fortune ; the latter she would 
feel as her own deep disgrace. Why, then, why, then, sir, 
do we not as soon as possible change this from a civil to a 
national war ? And since we must fight it through, why 
not i:)ut ourselves in a state to enjoy all the benefits of 
victory, if we gain the victory ? 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 87 

46. " If we fail it can be no worse for us. But we shall 
not fail. The cause will raise up armies ; the cause will 
create navies. The people, the people, if we are true to 
them, will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously, 
through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people 
have been found. I know the people of these Colonies, 
and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep 
and settled in their hearts and cannot be eradicated. Every 
Colony, indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if 
we but take the lead. Sir, the Declaration will inspire the 
people with increased courage. Instead of a long and 
bloody war for the restoration of privileges, for redress of 
grievances, for chartered immunities, held under a Britisli 
king, set before them the glorious object of entire inde- 
pendence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath 
of life. Read this Declaration at the head of the army ; 
every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the 
solemn vow uttered to maintain it, or to perish on the bed 
of honor. Publish it from the pulpit ; religion will ap- 
prove it, and the love of religious liberty will cling round 
it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to the 
public halls ; proclaim it there ; let them hear it who heard 
the first roar of the enemy's cannon ; let them see it who 
saw their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker 
Hill, and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, and the 
very walls will cry out in its support. 

47. ''Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but 
I see, I see clearly, through this day's business. You and 
I, indeed, may rue it. A¥e may not live to the time when 
this Declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die col- 
onists ; die slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously and on 
the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of 
Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of 
my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour 
of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But Avhile I do 



88 DANIEL WEBSTER 

live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a coun- 
try, and that a free country. 

48. '' But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be as- 
sured that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treas- 
ure, and it may cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will 
richly compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of 
the present I see the brightness of the future, as the sun 
in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal 
day. AVhen we are in our graves, our children Avill honor 
it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, 
with bonfires and illuminations. On its annual return 
they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of sub- 
jection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of ex- 
ultation, of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I be- 
lieve the hour is come. My judgment approves this meas- 
ure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all 
that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready 
here to stake upon it ; and I leave off as I begun, that live 
or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is 
my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it shall 
be my dying sentiment, Independence now, and Indepen- 
dence forever." 

49. And so that day shall be honored, illustrious j^rophet 
and patriot ! so that day shall be honored, and as often as 
it returns, thy renown shall come along with it, and the 
glory of thy life, like the day of thy death, shall not fail 
from the remembrance of men. 

V. 50. It would be unjust, fellow-citizens, on this oc- 
casion, while we express our veneration for him who is the 
immediate subject of these remarks, were we to omit a 
most respectful, affectionate, and grateful mention of those 
other great men, his colleagues, who stood with him, and 
with the same spirit, the same devotion, took part in the 
interesting transaction. Hancock, the proscribed Han- 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON . 89 

cock, exiled from his home by a militaiy governor, cut off 
by prockimation from the mercy of the crown, — Heaven 
reserved for him the distinguished honor of putting this 
great question to tlie vote, and of writing his own name 
first, and most conspicuously, on that parchment which 
spoke defiance to the power of the crown of England. 
There, too, is the name of that other proscribed patriot, 
Samuel Adams, a man who hungered and thirsted for the 
independence of his country ; who thought the Declaration 
halted and lingered, being himself not only ready, but 
eager, for it, long before it was proposed ; a man of the 
deepest sagacity, the clearest foresight, and the profound- 
est judgment in men. And there is Gerry, himself among 
the earliest and the foremost of the patriots, found, when 
the battle of Lexington summoned them to common coun- 
sels, by the side of AVarren ; a man who lived to serve his 
country at home and abroad, and to die in the second 
place in the government. There, too, is the inflexible, 
the upright, the Spartan character, Robert Treat Paine. 
He also lived to serve his country through the struggle, 
and then withdrew from her councils, only that he might 
give his labors and his life to his native State in another 
relation. These names, fellow-citizens, are the treasures 
of the Commonwealth ; and they are treasures which grow 
brighter by time. 

VI. 51. It is now necessary to resume the narrative, and 
to finish with great brevity the notice of the lives of those 
whose virtues and services we have met to commemorate. 

52. Mr. Adams remained in Congress from its first meet- 
ing till November, 1777, when he was appointed Minister 
to France. He proceeded on that service in the February 
following, embarking in the frigate Boston, from the shore 
of his native town, at the foot of Mount Wollaston. The 
year following he was appointed commissioner to treat of 



90 DANIEL WEBSTER 

peace with England, lieturning to the United States, he 
was a delegate from Braintree in the Convention for fram- 
ing the Constitution of this Commonwealth, in 1780. At 
the latter end of the same year he again went ahroad in 
the diplomatic service of the country, and was employed at 
various courts, and occupied with various negotiations, un- 
til 1788. The particulars of these interesting and im- 
portant services this occasion does not allow time to relate. 
In 1782 he concluded our first treaty with Holland. His 
negotiations with that republic, his efforts to persuade the 
States-General to recognize our independence, his incessant 
and indefatigable exertions to represent the American cause 
favorably on the Continent, and to counteract the designs 
of its enemies, open and secret, and his successful under- 
taking to obtain loans, on the credit of a nation yet new 
and unknown, are among his most arduous, most useful, 
most honorable services. It was his fortune to bear a part 
in the negotiation for peace with England, and in some- 
thing more than six years from the Declaration which he 
had so strenuously supported, he had the satisfaction of see- 
ing the minister plenipotentiary of the crown subscribe his 
name to the instrument which declared that his " Britannic 
Majesty acknov/ledged the United States to be free, sover- 
eign, and independent.'' In these important transactions, 
Mr. Adams's conduct received the marked approbation of 
Congress and of the country. 

53. While abroad, in 1787, he published his ''Defence 
of the American Constitutions ; " a work of merit and 
ability, tliough composed with haste, on the s^mr of a par- 
ticular occasion, in the midst of other occupations, and un- 
der circumstances not admitting of careful revision. The 
immediate object of the work was to counteract the weight 
of opinions advanced by several popular European writei's 
of tliat day, M. Turgot, the Abbe de ]\Iably, and Dr. Price, 
at a time when the people of the United States were em- 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 91 

ployed in forming and revising their systems of govern- 
ment. 

54. Retnrning to the United States in 1788, he fonnd 
the new government about going into operation, and was 
himself elected the first Vice-President, a situation which 
he filled with reputation for eight years, at the expiration 
of which he was raised to tlie Presidential chair, as imme- 
diate successor to the immortal AVashington. In this high 
station he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, after a memora- 
ble controversy between their respective friends, in 1801 ; 
and from that period his manner of life has been known to 
all who hear me. He has lived, for five-and-twenty years, 
with every enjoyment that could render old age happy. 
Not inattentive to the occurrences of the times, political 
cares have yet not materially, or for any long time, dis- 
turbed his repose. In 1820 he acted as elector of Presi- 
dent and Vice-President, and in the same year we saw him, 
then at the age of eighty-five, a member of the Conven- 
tion of this commonwealth called to revise the Constitution. 
Forty years before, he had been one of those who formed 
that Constitution ; and he had now the pleasure of witness- 
ing that there was little which the people desired to change. 
Possessing all his faculties to the end of his long life, with 
an unabated love of reading and contemplation, in the cen- 
tre of interesting circles of friendship and affection, he was 
blessed in his retirement with whatever of repose and felic- 
ity the condition of man allows. He had, also, otlier en- 
joyments. He saw around him that prosperity and general 
liappiness which had been the object of his public cares and 
labors. No man ever beheld more clearly, and for a longer 
time, the great and beneficial effects of the services ren- 
dered by himself to his country. That liberty which he so 
early defended, that independence of which he was so able 
an advocate and supporter, he saw, we trust, firmly and se- 
curely established. The population of the country thick- 



92 DANIEL WEBSTER 

ened around him faster, and extended wider, tlian his own 
sanguine predictions had anticipated ; and the wealth, re- 
spectability, and power of the nation sprang up to a mag- 
nitude which it is quite impossible he could have expected 
to witness in his day. He lived also to behold those prin- 
ciples of civil freedom Avhich had been developed, estab- 
lished, and practically applied in America, attract attention, 
command respect, and awaken imitation, in other regions 
of the globe ; and well might, and well did, he exclaim, 
''^ Where will the consequences of the American Kevolution 
end r' 

55. If anything yet remain to fill this cup of happiness, 
let it be added that he lived to see a great and intelligent 
people bestow the highest honor in their gift where he had 
bestowed his own kindest parental affections and lodged his 
fondest hopes. ^ Thus honored in life, thus happy at death, 
he saw the Jubilee, and he died ; and with the last prayers 
which trembled on his lips was the fervent supplication for 
his country, ''Independence forever ! " 

VII. 56. Mr. Jefferson, having been occupied in the years 
1778 and 1779 in the important service of revising the 
laws of Virginia, was elected Grovernor of that State, as 
successor to Patrick Henry, and held the situation when 
the State was invaded by the British arms. In 1781 he 
published his " Notes on Virginia," a work which attracted 
attention in Europe as well as America, dispelled many 
misconceptions respecting this continent, and gave its 
author a place among men distinguished for science. In 
November, 1783, he again took his seat in the Continen- 
tal Congress, but in the May following was appointed 
Minister Plenipotentiary, to act abroad, in the negotiation 
of commercial treaties, with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams. 

1 John Qnincy Adams had been inaugurated President the preceding 
year. 



ADAMS AND JEFB'ELISON 93 

He proceeded to France in execution of tliis mission, em- 
barking at Boston ; and that was the only occasion on 
which he ever visited this phxce. In 1785 he was appointed 
Minister to France, the duties of which situation he con- 
tinued to perform until October, 1789, when he obtained 
leave to retire, just on the eve of that tremendous revo- 
lution which has so much agitated the world in our times. 
Mr. Jefferson's discharge of his diplomatic duties was 
marked by great ability, diligence, and patriotism ; and 
while he resided at Paris, in one of the most interesting 
periods, his character for intelligence, his love of knowl- 
edge and of the society of learned men, distinguished him 
in the highest circles of the French capital. No court in 
Europe had at that time in Paris a representative com- 
manding or enjoying higher regard, for political knowl- 
edge or for general attainments, than the minister of this 
then infant republic. Immediately on his return to his 
native country, at the organization of the government 
under the present Constitution, his talents and experience 
recommended him to President Washington for the first 
office in his gift. He was placed at the head of the De- 
partment of State. In this situation, also, he manifested 
conspicuous ability. His correspondence with the minis- 
ters of other powers residing here and his instructions to 
our own diplomatic agents abroad are among our ablest 
state papers, A thorough knowledge of the laws and 
usages of nations, perfect acquaintance with the imme- 
diate subject before him, great felicity, and still greater fa- 
cility, in writing show themselves in whatever effort his 
official situation called on him to make. It is believed by 
competent judges that the diplomatic intercourse of the 
government of the United States, from the first meeting 
of the Continental Congress in 1774 to the present time, 
taken together, would not suffer, in respect to the talent 
with which it has been conducted, by comparison with 



94 DANIEL WEBSTER 

anything which other and okler governments can produce ; 
and to the attainment of this respectability and distinction 
Mr. Jefferson has contributed his full part. 

57. On the retirement of General Washington from the 
Presidency, and the election of Mr. Adams to that office 
in 1797, he was chosen Vice-President. While presiding 
in this capacity over the deliberations of the Senate, he 
compiled and published a ^"^ Manual of Parliamentary Prac- 
tice," a work of more labor and more merit than is indi- 
cated by its size. It is now received as the general stand- 
ard by which proceedings are regulated, not only in both 
Houses of Congress, but in most of the other legislative 
bodies in the country. In 1801 he was elected President, 
in opposition to Mr. Adams, and reelected in 1805, by a 
vote approaching towards unanimity. 

58. From the time of his final retirement from public 
life, in 1808, Mr. Jefferson lived as became a wise man. 
Surrounded by affectionate friends, his ardor in the pur- 
suit of knowledge undiminished, with uncommon health 
and unbroken spirits, he was able to enjoy largely the 
rational pleasures of life, and to partake in that public 
prosperity which he had so much contributed to produce. 
His kindness and hospitality, the charm of his conversa- 
tion, the ease of his manners, the extent of his acquire- 
ments, and, especially, the full store of Eevolutionary 
incidents which he had treasured in his memory, and 
which he knew when and how to dispense, rendered his 
abode in a high degree attractive to his admiring country- 
men, while his high public and scientific character drew 
towards him every intelligent and educated traveller from 
abroad. Both Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson had the 
pleasure of knowing that the respect which they so largely 
received, was not paid to their official stations. They were 
not men made great by office ; but great men, on whom 
the country for its own benefit had conferred office. There 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 95 

was that in them which office did not give, and which the 
relinquishment of office did not, and could not, take away. 
In their retirement, in the midst of their fellow-citizens, 
themselves private citizens, they enjoyed as high regard 
and esteem as when filling the most important places of 
public trust. 

59. There remained to Mr. Jefferson yet one other 
work of patriotism and beneficence, the establishment of a 
university in his native State. To this object he devoted 
years of incessant and anxious attention, and by the en- 
lightened liberality of the Legislature of Virginia, and the 
cooperation of other able and zealous friends, he lived to 
see it accomplished. May all success attend this infant 
seminary ; and may those who enjoy its advantages, as 
often as their eyes shall rest on the neighboring height, 
recollect what they owe to their disinterested and inde- 
fatigable benefactor ; and may letters honor him who thus 
labored in the cause of letters ! 

60. Thus useful, and thus respected, passed the old 
age of Thomas Jefferson. But time was on its ever-cease- 
less wing, and was now bringing the last hour of this 
illustrious man. He saw its approach with undisturbed 
serenity. He counted the moments as they passed, and 
beheld that his last sands were falling. That day, too, 
was at hand which he had helped to make immortal. One 
wish, one hope, if it were not presumptuous, beat in his 
fainting breast. Oould it be so, might it please God, he 
would desire once more to see the sun, once more to look 
abroad on the scene around him, on the great day of liberty. 
Heaven, in its mercy, fulfilled that prayer. He saw that 
sun, he enjoyed its sacred light, he thanked God for this 
mercy, and bowed his aged head to the grave. ''Felix, 
non vit^e tantum claritate, sed etiam opportunitate mortis.'"' ^ 

' " Fortunate not only in tlie splendor of liis life, but in the time- 
liness of his death." — Tacitus, Agricola, 45. 



96 DANIEL WEBSTER 

61. The last public labor of Mr. Jefferson naturally sug- 
gests the expression of the high praise which is clue^ both 
to him and to Mr. Adams, for their uniform and zealous 
attachment to learning, and to the cause of general 
knowledge. Of the advantages of learning, indeed, and 
of literary accomplishments, their own characters were 
striking recommendations and illustrations. They were 
scholars, ripe and good scholars ; widely acquainted with 
ancient, as well as modern literature, and not altogether 
uninstructed in the deeper sciences. Their acquirements, 
doubtless, were different, and so were the particular ob- 
jects of their literary pursuits ; as their tastes and char- 
acters, in these respects, differed like those of other men. 
Being, also, men of busy lives, with great objects requir- 
ing action constantly before them, their attainments in 
letters did not become showy or obtrusive. Yet I would 
hazard the opinion, that if we could now ascertain all the 
causes which gave them eminence and distinction in the 
midst of the great men with whom they acted, w^e should 
find not among the least their early acquisitions in litera- 
ture, the resources which it furnished, the promptitude 
and facility which it communicated, and the wide field it 
opened for analogy and illustration ; giving them thus, on 
every subject, a larger view and a broader range, as well 
for discussion as for the government of their own conduct. 

62. Literature sometimes disgusts, and pretension to it 
much oftener disgusts, by appearing to hang loosely on 
the character, like something foreign or extraneous, not a 
part, but an ill-adjusted appendage ; or by seeming to 
overload and weigh it down by its unsightly bulk, like the 
productions of bad taste in architecture, where there is 
massy and cumbrous ornament without strength or solid- 
ity of column. This has exposed learning, and especially 
classical learning, to reproach. Men have seen that it 
might exist without mental superiority, without vigor. 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 97 

without good taste^ and without utility. But in such 
cases classical learning has only not inspired natural talent ; 
or, at most, it has but made original feebleness of intel- 
lect, and natural bluntness of perception, something more 
conspicuous. The question, after all, if it be a question, 
is, whether literature, ancient as Well as modern, does not 
assist a good understanding, improve natural good taste, 
add polished armor to native strength, and render its 
possessor, not only more capable of deriving private 
happiness from contemplation and reflection, but more 
accomplished also for action in the affairs of life, and 
especially for public action. Those whose memories we 
now honor were learned men ; but their learning was kept 
in its proper place, and made subservient to the uses and 
objects of life. They were scholars, not common nor 
superficial ; but their scholarship was so in keeping with 
their character, so blended and inwrought, that careless 
observers, or bad judges, not seeing an ostentatious dis- 
play of it, might infer that it did not exist ; forgetting, or 
not knowing, that classical learning in men who act in 
conspicuous public stations, perform duties which exer- 
cise the faculty of writing, or address popular, delibera- 
tive, or judicial bodies, is often felt where it is little seen, 
and sometimes felt more effectually because it is not seen 
at all. 

63. But the cause of knowledge, in a more enlarged 
sense, the cause of general knowledge and of popular edu- 
cation, had no warmer friends nor more powerful advo- 
cates than Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson. On this foun- 
dation they knew the whole republican system rested ; and 
this great and all-important truth they strove to impress, 
by all the means in their power. In the early publication 
already referred to, Mr. Adams expresses the strong and 
just sentiment that the education of the poor is more im- 
portant, even to the rich themselves, than all their ows 
7 



98 DANIEL WEBSTER 

riches. On this great truths indeed^ is founded that nnri- 
valled, that invaluable political and moral institution, our 
own blessing and the glory of our fathers, the N'ew Eng- 
Jand system of free schools. 

64. As the ^Dromotion of knowledge had been the object 
of their regard through life, so these great men made it 
the subject of their testamentary bounty. Mr. Jefferson 
is understood to have bequeathed his library to the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, and that of Mr. Adams is bestowed on 
the inhabitants of Quincy. 

VIII. 65. Mr. Adams and Mr. Jeiferson, fellow-citizens, 
were successively Presidents of the United States. The 
comjDarative merits of their respective administrations for 
a long time agitated and divided public opinion. They 
were rivals, each sup|)orted by numerous and powerful 
portions of the people, for the highest office. This con- 
test, partly the cause and partly the consequence of the 
long existence of two great political parties in the coun- 
try, is now part of the history of our government. We 
may naturally regret that anything should have occurred 
to create difference and discord between those who had 
acted harmoniously and efficiently in the great concerns of 
the Revolution. But this is not the time, nor this the oc- 
casion, for entering into the grounds of that difference, or 
for attempting to discuss the merits of the questions which 
it involves. As practical questions they were canvassed 
when the measures which they regarded were acted on and 
adopted ; and as belonging to history, the time has not 
come for their consideration. 

66. It is, perhaps, not wonderful, that, when the Con- 
stitution of the United States first went into operation, 
different opinions should be entertained as to the extent of 
the powers conferred by it. Here was a natural source of 
diversity of sentiment. It is still less wonderful, that that 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 99 

event/ nearly contemporary with our government under 
the present Constitution, which so entirely shocked all 
Europe, and disturbed our relations with her leading 
powers, should be thought, by different men, to have dif- 
ferent bearings on our own prosperity ; and that the early 
measures adopted by the government of the United States, 
in consequence of this new state of things, should be seen 
in opposite lights. It is for the future historian, when 
what now remains of prejudice and misconcej)tion shall 
have passed awa}^, to state these different opinions, and 
pronounce impartial Judgment. In the meantime, all 
good men rejoice, and well may rejoice, that the sharpest 
differences S23rung out of measures which, whether right or 
wrong, have ceased with the exigencies that gave them 
birth, and have left no j)ermanent effect either on the 
Constitution or on the general prosperity of the country. 
This remark, I am aware, may be supposed to have its ex- 
ception in one measure, the alteration of the Constitution - 
as to the mode of choosing President ; but it is true in its 
general application. Tims the course of policy pursued 
towards France in 1798, on the one hand, and the measures 
of commercial restriction commenced in 1807, on the other, 
both subjects of warm and severe opposition, have passed 
away and left nothing behind them. They were tempo- 
rary, and whether wise or unwise, their consequences were 
limited to their respective occasions. It is equally clear, 
at the same time, and it is equally gratifying, that those 
measures of both administrations which were of durable 
importance, and which drew after them momentous and 
long remaining consequences, have received general appro- 
bation. Such was the organization, or rather the creation, 
of the navy, in the administration of Mr. Adams ; such 
the acquisition of Louisiana, in that of Mr. Jefferson. 

' The French Revolution. 

2 Made by the twelfth Article of Amendment. 



100 DANIEL WEBSTER 

The country, it may safely be added, is not likely to be 
willing either to approve, or to reprobate, indiscriminately, 
and in the aggregate, all the measures of either, or of any, 
administration. The dictate of reason and of justice is, 
that, holding each one his own sentiments on the points 
of dilference, we imitate the great men themselves in the 
forbearance and moderation which they have cherished, 
and in the mutual respect and kindness which they have 
been so much inclined to feel and to reciprocate. 

67. No men, fellow-citizens, ever served their country 
with more entire exemption from every imputation of 
selfish and mercenary motives than those to whose memory 
we are paying these proofs of respect. A suspicion of any 
disposition to enrich themselves, or to profit by their public 
employments, never rested on either. No sordid motive 
approached them. The inheritance which they have left 
to their children is of their character and their fame. 

68. Fellow-citizens, I will detain you no longer by this 
faint and feeble tribute to the memory of the illustrious 
dead. Even in other hands, adequate justice could not be 
done to them, within the limits of this occasion. Their 
highest, their best praise, is your deep conviction of their 
merits, your affectionate gratitude for their labors and 
their services. It is not my voice, it is this cessation of 
ordinary pursuits, this arresting of all attention, these 
solemn ceremonies, and this crowded house, which speak 
their eulogy. Their fame, indeed, is safe. That is now 
treasured up beyond the reach of accident. Although no 
sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor en- 
graved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their 
remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored. 
]\Iarble columns may, indeed, moulder into dust, time may 
erase all impress from the crumbling stone, but their fame 
remains ; for with American Liberty it rose, and with 
American Liberty only can it perish. It Avas the last 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 101 

swelling peal of yonder choii% ^'^ Their bodies are buried 
in peace, but their name liveth evermore/" I catch that 
solemn song, I echo that lofty strain of funeral triumph, 
'^ Their name liveth evermore/" 

IX. 69. Of the illustrious signers of the Declaration of 
Independence there now remains only Charles Carroll. He 
seems an aged oak, standing alone on the i^lain, which time 
has spared a little longer after all its contemporaries have 
been levelled with the dust. Venerable object ! we delight 
to gather round its trunk, while yet it stands, and to dwell 
beneath its shadow. Sole survivor of an assembly of as 
great men as the world has witnessed, in a transaction one 
of the most important that history records, what thoughts, 
what interesting reflections, must fill his elevated and 
devout soul ! If he dwell on the past, how touching its 
recollections ; if he survey the present, how ha^^j^y, how 
joyous, how full of the fruition of that hope which his 
ardent patriotism indulged ; if he glance at the future, how 
does the prospect of his country^s advancement almost 
bewilder his w^eakened conception ! Fortunate, distin- 
guished patriot ! Interesting relic of the past ! Let him 
know that, while we honor the dead, we do not forget the" 
living ; and that there is not a heart here which does not 
fervently pray that Heaven may keep him yet back from 
the society of his companions. 

X. 70. And now, fellow-citizens, let us not retire from 
this occasion without a deep and solemn conviction of the 
duties which have devolved upon us. This lovely land, this 
glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase 
of our fathers, are ours ; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, 
ours to transmit. Generations past and generations to come 
hold us responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers, 
from behind, admonish us with their anxious paternal 



102 DANIEL WEBSTER 

voices ; posterity calls out to us from the bosom of the 
future ; the world turns hither its solicitous eyes ; all, all 
conjure us to act wisely, and faithfully, in the relation 
which we sustain. / We can ncA-er, indeed, pay the debt 
which is upon us ; but by virtue, by moralit}^, by religion, 
by the cultivation of every good principle and every good 
habit, we may hope to enjoy the blessing, through our day, 
and to leave it unimpaired to our children. Let us feel 
deeply how much of what we are and of what we possess 
we owe to this liberty, and to these institutions of govern- 
ment. ]^ature has, indeed, given us a soil which yields 
bounteously to the hand of industry, the mighty and fruit- 
ful ocean is before us, and the skies over our heads shed 
health and vigor. But what are lands and seas and skies 
to civilized man, without society, without knowledge, with- 
out morals, without religious culture ; and how can these 
be enjoyed, in all their extent and all their excellence, but 
under the protection of wise institutions and a free gov- 
ernment ? Fellow-citizens, there is not one of us, there is 
not one of us here present, who does not, at this moment, 
and at every moment, experience, in his own condition, and 
in the condition of those most near and dear to him, the 
influence and the benefits of this liberty and these institu- 
tions. Let us then acknowledge the blessing, let us feel it 
deeply and powerfully, let us cherish a strong affection for 
it, and resolve to maintain and perjDetuate it. The blood 
of our fathers, let it not have been shed in vain ; the great 
hope of posterity, let it not be blasted. 

7L The striking attitude, too, in which we stand to the 
world around us, a topic to which, I fear, I advert too 
often, and dwell on too long, cannot be altogetlier omitted 
here. Neither individuals nor nations can perform their 
part well, until they understand iind feel its importance, 
and comprehend and justly appreciate all the duties belong- 
ing to it. It is not to inflate national vanity, nor to swell 



ADAMS AND JEFFERSON 103 

a light and empty feeling of self-importance, but it is that 
we may judge justly of our situation, and of our duties, 
that I earnestly urge upon you this consideration of our 
position and our character among the nations of the earth. 
It cannot be denied, but by those who would dispute 
against the sun, that with America, and in America, a new 
era commences in human affairs. This era is distinguished 
by free representative governments, by entire religious 
liberty, by improved systems of national intercourse, by a 
newly awakened and an unconquerable spirit of free in- 
quiry, and by a diffusion of knowledge through the com- 
munity, such as has been before altogether unknown and 
unheard of. America, America, our country, fellow-citi- 
zens, our own dear and native land, is inseparably con- 
nected, fast bound up, in fortune and by fate, with these 
great interests. If they fall, we fall with them ; if they 
stand, it will be because we have maintained them. Let us 
contemplate, then, this connection, which binds the pros- 
perity of others to our own ; and let us manfully discharge 
all the duties which it imposes. If we cherish the virtues 
and the principles of our fathers. Heaven will assist us to 
carry on the work of human liberty and human happiness. 
Auspicious omens cheer us. Great examples are before 
us. Our own firmament now shines brightly upon our 
path. Washington is in the clear, upper sky. These 
other stars have now joined the American constellation ; 
they circle round their centre, and the heavens beam with 
new light. Beneath this illumination let us walk the 
course of life, and at its close devoutly commend our be- 
loved country, the common parent of us all, to the Divine 
Benignity. 



THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON 

A SPEECH DELIVERED AT A PUBLIC DINNER IN HONOR OF THE 

CENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY OP WASHINGTON, ON THE 22D OF 

FEBRUARY, 1832 

[On the 22d of February, 1832, a company of gentleman assembled 
in the national capital to celebrate by a public dinner the centennial 
anniversary of Washington's birthday. Most of them were members 
of Congress. Mr. Webster, who since 1827 had been senator from 
Massachusetts, occupied the chair and gave the opening toast, prefac- 
ing it by the following remarks.] 

1. 1. I KiSEj Gentlemen^ to propose to yon the name of 
that great man^ in commemoration of whose birth, and in 
honor of whose character and services, we are here assem- 
bled. 

2. I am sure that I express a sentiment common to every 
one jDresent, when I say that there is something more than 
ordinarily solemn and affecting in this occasion. 

3. We are met to testify our regard for him whose name 
is intimately blended with whatever belongs most essentially 
to the prosperity, the liberty, the free institutions, and the 
renown of our country. That name was of power to rally 
a nation, in the hour of thick-thronging public disasters 
and calamities ; that name shone, amid the storm of war, a 
beacon light, to cheer and guide the country's friends ; it 
flamed, too, like a meteor, to repel her foes. That name, 
in the days of peace, was a loadstone, attracting to itself a 



THE GHARAGTEU OF WASHINGTON 105 

whole people's confidence, a whole people's love, and the 
whole world's respect. That name, descending with all 
time, spreading over the whole earth, and uttered in all the 
languages belonging to the tribes and races of men, will 
forever be pronounced with affectionate gratitude by every 
one in whose breast there shall arise an aspiration for hu- 
man rights and human liberty. 

4. We perform this grateful duty. Gentlemen, at the ex- 
piration of a hundred years from his birth, near the place, 
so cherished and beloved by him, where his dnst now re- 
poses, and in the capital which bears his own immortal 
name. 

II. 5. All experience evinces that human sentiments 
are strongly influenced by associations. The recurrence 
of anniversaries, or of longer periods of time, naturally 
freshens the recollection, and deepens the impression, of 
events with which they are historically connected. Re- 
nowned places, also, have a power to aAvaken fueling, 
which all acknowledge. No American can pass by the 
fields of Bunker Hill, Monmouth, and Camden, as if they 
were ordinary spots on the earth's surface. Whoever 
visits them feels the sentiment of love of country kindling 
anew, as if the spirit that belonged to the transactions 
which have rendered these places distinguished still 
hovered round, with power to move and excite all who in 
future time may approach them. 

G. But neither of these sources of emotion equals the 
power with which great moral examples affect the mind. 
When sublime virtues cease to be abstractions, . when they 
become embodied in human character, and exemplified in 
human conduct, we should be false to our own nature if 
we did not indulge in the spontaneous effusions of our 
gratitude and our admiration. A true lover of the virtue 
of patriotism delights to contemplate its purest models ; 



106 DANIEL WEBSTER 

and that love of country may be well suspected wliicli af- 
fects to soar so high into the regions of sentiment as to 
be lost and absorbed in the abstract feeling, and becomes 
too elevated or too refined to glow with fervor in the com- 
mendation or the love of individual benefactors. All this 
is nnnatural. It is as if one should be so enthusiastic a 
lover of poetry as to care nothing for Homer or Milton ; 
so passionately attached to eloquence as to be indifferent 
to Tully ^ and Chatham ; or such a devotee to the arts, in 
such an ecstasy with the elements of beauty, jiroportion, 
and expression, as to regard the masterpieces of Ra2:)hael 
and Michael Angel o_ Avith coldness or contempt. "We may 
be assured. Gentlemen, that he who really loves the thing 
itself, loves its finest exhibitions. A true friend of his 
country loves her friends and benefactors, and thinks it 
no degradation to commend and commemorate them. 
The voluntary outpouring of the public feeling, made to- 
day, from the Korth to the South, and from the East to 
the West, proves this sentiment to be both just and nat- 
nral. In the cities and in the villages, in the public 
temples and in the family circles, among all ages and 
sexes, gladdened voices to-day bespeak grateful hearts and 
a freshened recollection of the virtues of the Father of his 
Country. And it will be so, in all time to come, so long 
as public virtue is itself an object of regard. The in- 
genuous youth of America will hold up to themselves the 
bright model of Washington's example, and study to be what 
they behold ; they will contemplate his character till all 
its virtues sjoread out and display themselves to their de- 
lighted vision ; as the earliest astronomers, the shepherds 
on the plains of Babylon, gazed at the stars till they saw 
them form into clusters and constellations, overpowering 
at lengtli the eyes of the beholders with the united blaze 
of a thousand lights. 

^Cicero. 



THE GIIAIIAGTER OF WASHINGTON 107 

III. 7. Gentlemen, we are at the point of a century from 
the hirth of Washington ; and what a century it has been ! 
During its course, the human mind has seemed to proceed 
with a sort of geometric velocity, accomplishing, for human 
intelligence and human freedom, more than had been done 
in fives or tens of centuries preceding. "Washington stands 
at the commencement of a new era, as well as at the head 
of the New World. A century from the birth of Washing- 
ton has changed the world. The country of AYashington 
has been the theatre on which a great part of that change 
has been wrought ; and Washington himself a principal 
agent by which it has been accomplished. His age and 
his country are equally full of wonders ; and of both ho is 
the chief. 

8. If the poetical prediction, uttered a few years before 
his birth, be true; if indeed it be designed by Providence 
that the grandest exliibition of human character and hu- 
man affairs shall be made on this theatre of the AVesteru 
world ; if it be true that 



" Tlie four first acts already past, 
A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; 
Time's noblest offspring is the last ; " 

how could this imposing, swelling, final scene be appropri- 
ately opened, how could its intense interest be adequately 
sustained, but by the introduction of just such a character 
as our AVashington ? 

9. AVashington had attained his manhood when that 
spark of liberty was struck out in his own country, which 
has since kindled into a fiame, and shot its beams over the 
earth. In the flow of a century from his birth, the world 
has changed in science, in arts, in the extent of commerce, 
in the improvement of navigation, and in all that relates 
to* the civilization of man. But it is the spirit of human 
freedom, the new elevation of individual man_, in his moral. 



108 DANIEL WEBSTER 

social, and political character, leading the whole long train 
of other improvements, which has most remarkably distin- 
guished the era. Society, in this century, has not made its 
progress, like Chinese skill, by a greater acuteness of inge- 
nuity in trifles ; it has not merely lashed itself to an in- 
creased speed round the old circles of thought and action ; 
but it has assumed a new character ; it has raised itself 
from teneath governments to a participation in govern- 
ments ; it has mixed moral and political objects with the 
daily pursuits of individual men ; and, with a freedom and 
strength before altogether unknown, it has applied to these 
objects the whole power of the human understanding. It 
has been the era, -in short, when the social principle has 
triumphed over the feudal principle ; when society has 
maintained its rights against military power, and estab- 
lished, on foundations never hereafter to be shaken, its 
competency to govern itself. 

10. It Avas the extraordinary fortune of Washington, 
that, having been intrusted, in Eevolutionary times, with 
the supreme military command, and having fulfilled that 
trust with equal renown for wisdom and for valor, he 
should be placed at the head of the first government in 
which an attempt was to be made on a large scale to rear 
the fabric of social order on the basis of a written constitu- 
tion and of a pure representative principle. A government 
was to be established, without a throne, without an aristoc- 
racy, without castes, orders, or privileges ; and this govern- 
ment, instead of being a democracy, existing and acting 
within the walls of a single city,^ was to be extended over 
a vast country, of different climates, interests, and habits, 
and of various communions of our common Christian faith. 
The experiment certainly was entirely new. A i3opular 
government of this extent, it was evident, could be framed 
only by carrying into full effect the principle of rejjreseiita- 
J Sucli, for example, as the Athenian democracy. 



THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON 109 

tion or of delegated power ; and the world was to see 
whether society could, by the strength of this principle, 
maintain its own peace and good government, carry forward 
its own great interests, and conduct itself to political renown 
and glory. By the benignity of Providence, this exj)eri- 
ment, so full of interest to us and to our j)osterity forever, 
so full of interest, indeed, to the world in its present gen- 
eration and in all its generations to come, was suffered to 
commence under the guidance of Washington. Destined 
for this high career, he was fitted for it by wisdom, by 
virtue, by patriotism, by discretion, by whatever can in- 
spire confidence in man towards man. In entering on the 
untried scenes, early disappointment and tlie premature 
extinction of all hope of success would have been certain, 
had it not been that there did exist throughout the coun- 
try, in a most extraordinary degree, an unwavering trust 
in him who stood at the helm. 

IV. 11. I remarked. Gentlemen, that the whole world 
was and is interested in the result of this experiment. And 
is it not so ? Do we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at 
this moment the career which this government is running 
is among the most attractive objects to the civilized world ? 
Do we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at this moment 
that love of liberty, and that understanding of its true 
principles, which are flying over the whole earth as on the 
wings of all the winds, are really and truly of American 
origin ? 

12. At the period of the birth of Washington, there 
existed in Europe no political liberty in large communi- 
ties, except in the provinces of Holland, and exce|)t that 
England herself had set a great example, so far as it went, 
by her glorious Revolution of 1688. Everywhere else 
despotic power was predominant, and the feudal or mili- 
tary principle held the mass of mankind in hopeless bond- 



110 DANIEL WEBSTER 

age. One half of Europe was crushed beneath the Bour- 
bon sceptre/ and no conception of political liberty, no hope 
even of religious toleration, existed among that nation 
which w^as America's first ally. The king was the state, 
the king was the country, the king was all. There was one 
king, with power not derived from his people, and too 
high to be questioned ; and the rest were all subjects, with 
no political right but obedience. All above was intangi- 
ble power, all below quiet subjection. A recent occur- 
rence in the French Chambers shoAvs us how public opin- 
ion on these subjects is changed. A minister had spoken 
of the " king's subjects.^^ ^' There are no subjects," ex- 
claimed hundreds of voices at once, " in a country where 
the people make the king ! " 

13. Gentlemen, the spirit of human liberty and of free 
government, nurtured and grown into strength and beauty 
in America, has stretched its course into the midst of the 
nations. Like an emanation from Heaven, it has gone 
forth, and it will not return void. It must change, it is 
fast changing, the face of the earth. Our great, our high 
duty is to show, in our own example, that this spirit is a 
spirit of health as well as a spirit of power ; that its benig- 
nity is as great as its strength ; tliat its efficiency to secure 
individual rights, social relations, and moral order, is equal 
to the irresistible force with Avliich it prostrates principali- 
ties and powers. The world, at this moment, is regarding 
us with a willing, but something of a fearful admiration. 
Its deep and awful anxiety is to learn whetlier free states 
may be stable, as well as free ; whether popular power may 
be trusted, as well as feared ; in short, whether wise, regu - 
lar, and virtuous self-government is a vision for the con- 
templation of tlieorists, or a truth established, illustrated, 
and brought into practice in the country of Washington. 

11. Gentlemen, for the earth which we inhabit and the 
' In the hands of Louis XV., of France. 



THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON 111 

whole circle of the sun^ for all the unborn races of man- 
mind, we seem to hold in onr hands, for their weal or woe, 
the fate of this experiment. If we fail, who shall venture 
the repetition ? If our example shall prove to be one, not 
of encouragement, but of terror, not fit to be imitated, but 
fit only to be shunned, where else shall the world look for 
free models ? If this great Westei^n Sun be struck out of 
the firmament, at what other fountain shall the lamp of 
liberty hereafter be lighted ? What other orb shall emit 
a ray to glimmer, even, on the darkness of the world ? 

15. There is no danger of our overrating or overstating 
the important part which we are now acting in human 
affairs. It should not flatter our personal self-respect, but 
it should reanimate our patriotic virtues, and inspire us 
with a deeper and more solemn sense, both of our privi- 
leges and of our duties. We cannot wish better for our 
country, nor for the world, than that the same spirit which 
influenced Washington may influence all who succeed him ; 
and that the same blessing from above, which attended his 
efforts, may also attend theirs. 

V. 16. The principles of Washington's administration 
are not left doubtful. They are to be found in the Con- 
stitution itself, in the great measures recommended and 
approved by him, in his speeches to Congress, and in that 
most interesting paper, his Farewell Address to the People 
of the United States. The success of the government 
under his administration is the highest proof of the sound- 
ness of these principles. And, after an experience of thirty- 
five years, what is there which an enemy could condemn ? 
What is there which either his friends, or the friends 
of the country, could wish to have been otherwise ? I 
speak, of course, of great measures and leading principles. 

17. In the first place, all his measures were right in their 
intent. He stated the whole basis of his own great char- 



112 DANIEL WEBSTER 

acter, when lie told tlie country^ in the homely phrase of 
the proverb, that honesty is the best policy. One of the 
most striking things ever said of him is, that " he changed 
mankincVs ideas of political greatness." ^ To command- 
ing talents, and to snccess, the common elements of such 
greatness, he added a disregard of self, a spotlessness of 
motive, a steady submission to every public and private 
duty, which threw far into the shade the whole crowd of 
vulgar great. The object of his regard was the whole 
country. No part of it was enough to fill his enlarged 
patriotism. His love of glory, so far as that may be sup- 
posed to have influenced him at all, spurned everything 
short of general approbation. It would have been nothing 
to him, that his partisans or his favorites outnumbered, or 
outvoted, or outmanaged, or outclamored, those of other 
leaders. He had no favorites ; he rejected all partisan- 
ship ; and, acting honestly for the universal good, he de- 
served, what he has so richly enjoyed, the universal love. 

18. His principle it was to act right, and to trust the 
people for support ; his principle it was not to follow tlie 
lead of sinister and selfish ends, nor to rely on the little 
arts of party delusion to obtain public sanction for such a 
course. Born for his country and for the world, he did 
not give up to party what was meant for mankind. The 
consequence is, that his fame is as durable as his princi- 
ples, as lasting as truth and virtue themselves./ While the 
hundreds whom party excitement, and temporary ch'cuni- 
stances, and casual combinations, have raised into transient 
notoriety, sink again, like thin bubbles, bursting and dis- 
solving into the great ocean, Washington's fame is like the 
rock which bounds that ocean, and at whose feet its billows 
are destined to break harmlessly forever. 

19. The maxims upon which Washington coiuliicted our 

' " Mankind perceived some change in their ideas of greatness." — 
Firiher Ames, Euioyy on Washing/on. 



THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON 113 

foreign relations were few and simple. The first was an 
entire and indisputable impartiality towards foreign states. 
He adhered to this rule of public conduct, against very 
strong inducements to depart from it, and when the popu- 
larity of the moment seemed to favor such a departure. 
In the next place, he maintained true dignity and unsullied 
honor in all communications with foreign states. It wasV 
among the high duties devolved upon him, to introduce i 
our nevv^ government into the circle of civilized states and/ 
powerful nations. Not arrogant or assuming, with no un- 
becoming or supercilious bearing, he yet exacted for it 
from all others entire and punctilious respect. He de- 
manded, and he obtained at once, a standing of perfect 
equality for his country in the society of nations ; nor was 
there a prince or potentate of his day, whose personal 
character carried with it, into the intercourse of other 
states, a greater degree of respect and veneration. 

20. He regarded other nations only as they stood in 
political relations to us. With their internal affairs, their 
political parties and dissensions, he scrupulously abstained 
from all interference ; and, on the other hand, he repelled 
with spirit all such interference by others with us or 
our concerns. His sternest rebuke, the most indignant 
measure of his whole administration,^ was aimed against 
such an attempted interference. He felt it as an attempt 
to wound the national honor, and resented it accordingly. 

21. The reiterated admonitions in his Farewell Address 
show his deep fears that foreign influence would insinuate 
itself into our counsels through the channels of domestic 
dissension, and obtain a sympathy with our own temjDorary 
parties. , Against all such dangers, he most earnestly en- 
treats the country to guard itself. He appeals to its pat- 
riotism, to its self-respect, to its own honor, to every con- 
sideration connected with its welfare and happiness, to 

^ His request that the French minister, M. Grenet, be recalled. 



/ 



jll4 DANIEL WEBSTER 

resist, at the very beginning, all tendencies towards such 
connection of foreign interests with our own affairs. With 
a tone of earnestness nowhere else found, even in his last 
affectionate farewell advice to his countrymen, he says, 
" Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I con- 
jure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a 
free people ought to be constantly awake ; since history 
and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the 
most baneful foes of republican government.''' 

22. Lastly, on the subject of foreign relations, Washing- 
ton never forgot that we had interests |)eculiar to ourselves. 
The primary political concerns of Europe, he saw, did not 
affect us. We had nothing to do with her balance of 
power, her family compacts, or her successions to thrones. 
We were placed in a condition favorable to neutrality 
during European wars, and to the enjoyment of all the 
great advantages of that relation. " Why, then,"' he asks 
us, ^^why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? 
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? AVhy, 
by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of 
Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of 
European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?'' 

23. Indeed, Gentlemen, Washington's Farewell Address 
is full of truths important at all times, and particularly 
deserving consideration at the present. With a sagacity 
which brought the future before him, and made it like the 
present, he saw and pointed out the dangers that even at 
this moment most imminently threaten us. I hardly know 

^ how a greater service of that kind could now be done to the 
community, than by a renewed and wide diffusion of that 
admirable paper, and an earnest invitation to every man in 
the country to reperuse and consider it. Its political 
maxims are invaluable ; its exhortations to love of country 
and to brotherly affection among citizens, touching ; and 
the solemnity with which it urges the observance of moral 



THE CHARACTER OF WASBINQTON 115 

duties^ and impresses the power of religious obligation, 1 
gives to it the highest character of truly disinterested, sin- i 
cere, parental advice. 

24. The domestic policy of Washington found its pole- 
star in the avowed objects of the Constitution itself. He 
sought so to administer that Constitution, as to form a 
more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
quillity, provide for the common defence, promote the - 
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. These 
were objects interesting, in the highest degree, to the 
whole country, and his policy embraced the whole country. 

25. Among his earliest and most important duties was 
the organization of the government itself, the choice of his 
confidential advisers, and the various appointments to 
office. This duty, so important and delicate, when a whole 
government was to be organized, and all its offices for the 
first time filled, was yet not difficult to him ; for he had 
no sinister ends to accomplish, no clamorous partisans to 
gratify, no pledges to redeem, no object to be regarded, 
but simply the public good. It was a plain, straightforward 
matter, a mere honest choice of good men for the public 1 
service. 

26. His own singleness of purpose, his disinterested 
patriotism, were evinced by the selection of his first cabi- 
net, and by the manner in which he filled the seats of 
justice and other places of high trust. He sought for menlT 
fit for offices, not for offices which might suit men. Above \ 
personal considerations, above local considerations, above 
party considerations, he felt that he could only discharge 
the sacred trust which the country had placed in his hands, 
by a diligent inquiry after real merit, and a conscientious 
preference of virtue and talent. The whole country was 
the field of his selection. He explored that whole field, 
looking only for whatever it contained most worthy and 
distinguished. He was, indeed, most successful, and he 



116 DANIEL WEBSTER 

deserved success for the jDurity of his motives, the liberality 
of his sentiments, and his enlarged and manly policy. 

27. Washington's administration established the national 
credit, made provision for the public debt, and for that 
patriotic army whose interests and welfare were always so 
dear to him ; and, by laws wisely framed, and of admirable 
effect, raised the commerce and navigation of the country, 
almost at once, from depression and ruin to a state of pros- 
perity. Nor were his eyes open to these interests alone. 
He viewed with equal concern its agriculture and manu- 
factures, and;, so far as they came within the regular exer- 
cise of the powers of this government, they experienced 
regard and favor. 

28. It should not be omitted, even in this slight refer- 
ence to the general measures and general principles of the 
first President, that he saw and felt the full value and im- 
portance of the judicial department of the government. 
An upright and able administration of the laws he held 
to be alike indispensable to private happiness and public 
liberty. The temple of justice, in his opinion, was a sa- 
cred place, and he would profane and pollute it who should 
call any to minister in it not spotless in character, not 
incorruptible in integrity, not competent by talent and 
learning, not a fit object of unhesitating trust. 

29. Among other admonitions, Washington has left us, 
in his last communication to his country, an exhorta- 
tion against the excesses of party spirit. A fire not to 
be quenched, he 5^et conjures us not to fan and feed the 
flame. Undoubtedly, Gentlemen, it is the greatest dan- 
ger of our system and of our time. Undoubtedly, if 
that system should be overthrown, it will be the work 
of excessive party spirit, acting on the government, 
which is dangerous enough, or acting in the govern- 
ment, which is a thousand times more dangerous ; for 
government then becomes nothing but organized party, 



THE GHARAGTER OF WASHINGTON 117 

and, in the strange vicissitudes of human affairs, it may 
come at last, perhaps, to exhibit the singular paradox of 
government itself being in opposition to its own powers, 
at war with the very elements of its own existence. 
Such cases are hopeless. As men may be protected 
against murder, but cannot be guarded against suicide, 
so government may be shielded from the assaults of ex- 
ternal foes, but nothing can save it Avhen it chooses to 
lay violent hands on itself. 

30. Finally, Gentlemen, there was in the breast of 
Washington one sentiment so deeply felt, so constantly 
uppermost, that no proper occasion escaped without its 
utterance. From the letter which he signed in behalf 
of the Convention when the Constitution was sent out 
to the people, to the moment when he put his hand to 
that last paper in which he addressed his countrymen, 
the Union, — the Union was the great object of his] 
thoughts. In that first letter he tells them that, to him 
and his brethren of the Convention, union appears to 
be the greatest interest of every true American ; and in 
that last paper he conjures them to regard that unity 
of government which constitutes them one people, as 
the very palladium of their prosperity and safety, and 
the security of liberty itself. He regarded the union of 
these States less as one of our blessings, than as the 
great treasure-house which contained them all. Here, 
in his judgment, was the great magazine of all our means 
of prosperity ; here, as he thought, and as every true 
American still thinks, are deposited all our animating 
prospects, all our solid hopes for future greatness. He has 
taught us to maintain this union, not by seeking to enlarge 
the powers of the government, on the one hand, nor by 
surrendering them, on the other ; but by an administration 
of them at once firm and moderate, pursuing objects truly 
national, and carried on in a spirit of justice and equity. 



118 DANIEL WEBSTER 

I 31. The extreme solicitude for the preservation of the 
/ Union, at all times manifested by him, shows not only the 
\ opinion he entertained of its importance, but his clear per- 
\ ception of those canses which were likely to spring up to 
endanger it, and which, if once they shonld overthrow the 
present system, wonld leave little hope of any fntnre bene- 
ficial reunion. Of all the presumptions indulged by j)re- 
sumptuous man, that is one of the rashest which looks 
for repeated and favorable opportunities for the deliberate 
/ establishment of a united government over distinct and 
V widely extended communities. Such a thing has hap- 
pened once in human affairs, and but once ; the event 
stands out as a prominent exception to all ordinary his- 
tory ; and, unless we suppose ourselves running into an 
age of miracles, we may not expect its repetition. 

32. AVashington, therefore, could regard, and did re- 
gard, nothing as of paramount political interest but the 
integrity of the Union itself. With a united government, 
well administered, he saw that we had nothing to fear ; 
and without it, nothing to hope./ The sentiment is just, 
and its momentous truth should solemnly im^^ress the 
whole country. If we might regard our country as per- 
sonated in the spirit of Washington, if we might con- 
sider him as representing her, in her past renown, her 
present ^orosperity, and her future career, and as, in that 
character, demanding of us all to account for our conduct, 
as political men or as private citizens, how should he an- 
swer him Avho has ventured to talk of disunion and dis- 
memberment ? Or how should he answer him who 
dwells perpetually on local interests, and fans every kind- 
ling flame of local prejudice?. How should he an- 
swer him who would array State against State, interest 
against interest, and party against party, careless of tlie 
continuance of that i(7iiti/ of government wliicli constitutes 
us one 2-)eo2Jle ? 



THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON 119 

VI. 33. The joolitical prosperity which this country has 
attained, and which it now enjoys, has been acquired 
mainly through the instrumentality of the present govern- 
ment. While this agent continues, the capacity of attain- 
ing to still higher degrees of prosperity exists also. We 
have, while this lasts, a political life capable of beneficial 
exertion, with power to resist or overcome misfortunes, to 
sustain us against the ordinary accidents of human affairs, 
and to promote, by active efforts, every public interest. 
But dismemberment strikes at the very being which pre- 
serves these faculties. It would lay its rude and ruthless 
hand on this great agent itself. It would sweep away, not 
only what we possess, but all power of regaining lost, or 
acquiring new possessions. It would leave the countr}^, 
not only bereft of its prosperity and haj^piness, but with- 
out limbs, or organs, or faculties, by which to exert itself 
hereafter in the pursuit of that prosperity and happiness. 

34. Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects 
overcome. If disastrous war should sweep our commerce 
from the ocean, another generation may renew it ; if it ex- 
haust our treasury, future industry may replenish it ; if it 
desolate and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultiva- 
tion, they will grow green again, and ripen to future har- 
vests. It were but a trifle even if the walls of yonder 
Capitol were to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and 
its gorgeous decorations be all covered by the dust of the 
valley. All these might be rebuilt. But who shall recon- 
struct the fabric of demolished government ? Who shcill 
rear again the well-proportioned columns of constitutional 
liberty ? Who shall frame together the skilful architect- 
ure which unites national sovereignty with State right&, 
individual security, and public prosperity ? No, if these 
columns fall, they will be raised not again. Like the 
Coliseum and the Parthenon, they will be destined to a 
mournful, a melancholy immortality. Bitterer tears, hovr- 



120 DANIEL WEBSTER 

ever, will flow over them than were ever shed over the 
monnments of Roman or Grrecian art ; for they will be the 
remnants of a more glorious edifice than Greece or Rome 
ever saw, the edifice of constitutional American liberty. 

35. But let us hope for better things. Let us trust in 
that gracious Being who has hitherto held our country as 
in the hollow of his hand. Let us trust to the virtue and 
the intelligence of the people, and to the efficacy of re- 
ligious obligation. Let us trust to the influence of Wash- 
ington's example. Let us hope that that fear of Heaven 
which expels all other fear, and that regard to duty which 
transcends all other regard, may influence public men and 
private citizens, and lead our countr}^ still onward in her 
happy career. Full of these gratifying anticipations and 
hopes, let us look forward to the end of that century 
, which is now commenced. y A hundred years hence, other 
\ disciples of Washington will celebrate his birth, with no 
j less of sincere admiration than we now commemorate it. 
1 When they shall meet, as we now meet, to do themselves 
: and him that honor, so surely as they shall see the blue 
summits of his native mountains rise in the horizon, so 
surely as they shall behold the river on whose banks he 
lived, and on whose banks he rests, still flowing on towards 
the sea, so surely may they see, as Ave now see, the flag of 
the Union floating on the top of the Capitol ; and then, as 
now, may the sun in his course visit no land more free, 
more happy, more lovely, than this our own country ! 
Gentlemen, I propose — 

'^ The Memory of George Washin-gtoj^." 



GENERAL NOTE 



A. SUGGESTIONS FOE STUDENTS 

[References to the text will be made by means of the following- 
abbreviations : 1 B. H. — ^^ First Bunker Hill Oration ; " 2 i>. H. 
— " Second Bunker Hill Oration ; " A. J. = '' Adams and Jefi'er- 
son ; " G. W. = "Character of Washington." A number follow- 
ing the abbreviation indicates the paragraph referred to ; thus, 
1 i?. iy. 26 = " First Bunker Hill Oration," paragraph 26. J 

1. Edillons of Webster. — The standard edition of Webster's 
works is that published by Little, Brown, and Co., in 1851, and 
since then frequently republished. In the first volume are con- 
tained all of the orations included in the present edition. 

The first edition of the "First Bunker Hill Oration " was pub- 
lished by Cummings, Hilliard, and Co., of Boston, almost imme- 
diately after it was delivered. It api3eared as a pamphlet of forty 
pages, with the title, "An .Address at the Laying of the Corner 
Sfcone of the Bunker Hill Monument." Before the close of the 
year it had gone through five editions. Since then this oration 
has been many times republished. 

The text of the "First Bunker Hill Oration," as revised by 
Mr. Webster for the edition of 1851, differs in some passages from 
the text of the first edition. A complete list of these changes is 
presented in parallel columns below : 



First Edition. 
(Par. 2) We live in what may 
be called the early age of this 
great continent ; and we know 
that our posterity, through all 
time, are here to suffer and enjoy 
the allotments of humanity. 



Edition of 1851. 



-are here to enjoy and suffer 



122 



GENERAL NOTE 



First Edition. 

(Par, 3) It is mo?'e impossible 
for us,tlieref ore, than for others, 
to contemplate with unaffected 
minds, etc. 

(Par. 4) To us, their children, 
the story of their labors and 
sufferings can never be without 
its interest. 

(Par. 7) We wish that, in 
these days of disaster, which, 
as they come on all nations, 
must be expected to come upon 
us also, desponding patriotism 
may turn its eyes hitherward, 
and be assured that the founda- 
tions of our national power still 
stand strong. 

(Par. 7) We wish, finally, that 
the last object on the sight of 
him who leaves his native shore, 
and the first to gladden Ids who 
revisits it, may be something 
which shall remind him of the 
liberty and the glory of his 
country. Let it rise, till it meet 
the sun in his coming, etc." 

(Par. 10) In the mean time 
both in Europe and America, 
such has been the general prog- 
ress of knowledge, such the 
improvements in legislation, 
etc. 

(Par. 11) — -while v/e hold still 
among us some of those who 
were active agents in the scenes 
of 1775, etc. 

(Par. 12) Come out to wel- 



Edition of 1851. 
It icould he still more unnatu- 
ral for us, therefore, than for 
others, etc. 

To us, their child]-en,the story 
of their labors and sufferings 
can never be without interest. 



— as they come upon all na- 
tions. 



— the foundations of our na- 
tional 230wer are still strong. 

We wish, finally, that the last 
object to the sight of him who 
leaves his native shore, and the 
first to gladden Jiim who re- 
visits it, may be something 
which shall remind him of the 
liberty and the glory of his 
country. Let it rise ! let it rise, 
till it meet the sun in his com- 
ing, etc. 



— such the improvement in 
legislation, etc. 

—while we still have among 
us, etc. 



GENERAL NOTE 



123 



First Edition. 
come and greet you with an 
universal jubilee. 

(Par. 12) — God has granted 
you this sight of your country's 
happiness, ere you slumber in 
the grave forevei-. 

(Par. 13) —our eyes seek for 
you in vain amidst this broken 
band. 

(Par. 17) The images of the 
dead, as well as the persons of 
the living, throng to your em- 
braces. 

(Par. 17) — then look abroad 
into this lovely land . . . yea, 
look abroad into the whole 
earth, etc. 

(Par. 18) It had been antici- 
pated, that while tJie other Colo- 
nies would be terrified, etc. 

(Par. 21) The battle of Bunker 
Hill was attended with the most 
important effects beyond its im- 
mediate result as a military en- 
gagement. 

(Par. 22) To this able vindi- 
cation of their cause, the Colo- 
nies had now added a practical 
and severe proof of their own 
true devotion to it, and evidence 
also of the power which they 
could bring to its support. 

(Par. 22) — leave more of 
their enemies dead on the field, 
in proportion to the number of 
combatants, than they had re- 
cently known in the wars of Eu- 
rope, 



Edition of 1851. 
— with a universal jubilee. 



— ere you slumber in the 
grave. 

— amid this broken band. 

The images of the dead, as 
well as the persons of the living. 
present themselves before you. 

— then look abroad upon this 
lovely land . . . yea, look 
abroad up)on the whole earth, 
etc. 

It had been anticipated that 
while tlie Colonies in general 
would be terrified, etc. 



— beyond its immediate re- 
sults as a military engagement. 



— and given evidence also of 
the power, etc. 



— than had been recently known 
to fall in the wars of Europe. 



124 



GENERAL NOTE 



First Edition. 

(Par. 23) Information of 
these events, circulating through 
Europe, etc. 

(Par. 24) The occasion is too 
severe for eulogy to the living. 

(Par, 26) Sir, monuments and 
eulogy belong to the dead. 

(Par. 26) On other occasions 
they have been given to your 
more immediate companions in 
arms, to Washington, to Gates, 
Sullivan, and Lincoln. Sir, we 
have become reluctant, etc. 

(Par. 35) The prayer of the 
Grecian comhatant, etc. 

(Par. 36) Wars to maintain 
family alliances, to uphold or to 
cast down dynasties, to regulate 
successions to thrones, etc. 

(Par. 36) — either to wrest 
that country from its present 
masters and add it to other 
powers, or to execute the system 
of pacification by force. 

(Par. 39) — the progress of 
information not only testifies to 
an improved condition, but con- 
stitutes, itself, the highest and 
most essential improvement. 

(Par. 40) But in our day there 
hath been, as it were, a new 
creation. 

(Par. 41) Andlei us endeavor 
to comprehend, etc. 

(Par. 44) Those are daily 
dropping from among us who 
established our liberty and our 
arovernment. 



Edition of 1851. 

— circulating throughout the 
world, etc. 

The occasion is too severe for 
eulogy of the living. 

Monuments and eulogy be- 
long to the dead. 



— to Greene, to Gates, to Sul- 
livan, and to Lincoln. We have 
become reluctant, etc. 

The iDrayer of the Grecian 
champion, etc. 

— to cast down dynasties, and 
t o regulate successions t o 
thrones, etc. 

— to wrest that country from 
its present masters, or to exe- 
cute the system of pacification 
by force. 



— but itself constitutes the 
highest and most essential im- 
provement. 

But in our day there has 
been, etc. 

Let us endeavor to compre- 
hend, etc. 

Those who established our 
liberty and our government are 
daily dropping from among us. 



GENERAL NOTE 125 

2. Text of this Edition. — The text of 1851 has been generally 
followed in later editions. An exception, however, is found in 
the edition published by the American Book Company, in which 
the punctuation and capitalizing are altered so as to conform to 
modern usages. In the present edition the text is substantially 
that of the edition of 1851. The editor has ventured but one 
correction. In 2 B. H. 32 of the original text occurs the 
sentence " Spain stooped on South America like a vulture 
on its prey." The word " stooped " has been changed to 
" swooped." 

3. Annotated Editions. — The early editions were devoid of notes. 
For the edition of 1851 judicious annotations in the way of intro- 
ductions and footnotes were prei3ared by the editor, Mr. Edward 
Everett. These are reproduced, with some additions and changes, 
in the school editions published by Houghton, Mifflin, and Co. 
(Riverside Literature Series, 1 B. H. and A. J.), and by Ginnand 
Co. (Annotated English Classics, 1 B. H.). They are also drawn 
upon (at times rather recklessly) by the editor of Maynard's Eng- 
lish Classic Series (1 B. H. , and 2 B. H. minus a part of ^ 2 and 
I 3-8), though the notes to this edition contain also much that is 
original with the editor. The edition of the American Book 
Company (Eclectic English Classics, IB. H., C. W. and A. J.), 
the edition of Heath and Co., edited by A. J. George (Heath's 
English Classics, 1 B. II.), and the edition of Leach, She well, 
and Sanborn, edited by Miss L. M. Hodgkins (Students' Series of 
English Classics, 1 B. H.), contain annotations which are the re- 
sults of independent study. 

4. References on Webster'' s Biography. — The best single book on 
Webster, if but one book can be obtained, is H. C. Lodge's 
" Daniel Webster," in the American Statesmen Series (Houghton, 
Mifflin, and Co.; price, $1.25). Higher as authority, but more 
elaborate and not so readily obtainable, is the life of Webster by 
George Ticknor Curtis, published in 1869. The biographical 
memoir by Edward Everett, j^refixed to the edition of 1851, is 
full and accurate, but, being ponderously oratorical in style, is 
not adapted to the needs of the young. Webster's " Autobiog- 
raphy," published, together with his private correspondence, in 
1857, is highly interesting, but unfortunately closes with the year 
1817. 



126 GENERAL NOTE 

Of the essays and addresses touching upon the life and char- 
acter of Webster, the most readable are perhaps H. N. Hudson's 
" Address on the 100th Anniversary of Webster's Birth" (Ginn 
and Co.), and the article " Webster," in the ninth edition of the 
" EncyclopEedia Britaunica." Theodore Parker's " Discourse on 
Webster " and Choate's " Discourse at Dartmouth College " are 
contemporary estimates of the man, uttered too soon after his 
death to be free from partiality and exaggeration. A calmer survey 
of Webster's character is that of James Parton in the North Amer- 
ican Review, January, 1867, republished in " Famous Americans 
of Kecent Times." With Choate's " Discourse " should be 
comjDared the ''Eulogy by G. S. Hillard," and the " Oration pro- 
nounced on Webster Commemoration Day, June 28, 1882, at 
Dartmouth College," -by Thos. F. Bayard. 

Several volumes of anecdotes and recollections appeared during 
Webster's life-time or immediately after his death. Among the 
earliest are Chas. Lanman's "Private Life of Webster," S. L. 
Knapi^'s " Memoir of the Life of Webster," C. W. March's " Remi- 
niscences of Congress" and "Daniel Webster and his Contem- 
poraries," and S. P. Lyman's "The Public and Private Life of 
Daniel Webster." More recently has appeared Peter Harvey's 
" Reminiscences and Anecdotes of Daniel Webster," a book of 
great interest, although pronounced by so good an authority as 
Mr. Lodge thoroughly untrustworthy. 

Upon the death of Webster, a flood of sermons and memorial 
addresses deluged the country. Most of them have little value 
and indeed are not available for consultation save in great public 
libraries. A few, however, are worthy of remembrance, and 
among them may be mentioned T. W. Higginson's " Elegy with- 
out Fiction," reprinted in broadside from the Boston Daily Spy, 
Thos. Starr King's '"Death of Webster," John Weiss's '* A Dis- 
course occasioned by the Death of Daniel Webster," and C. A. 
Bartol's " The Hand of God in the Great Man." With the last 
may be compared a sermon delivered by Dr. Bartol thirty years 
later, " Webster as a Man and Statesman." 

The following articles in magazines are of value : Harper's 
Magazine, vol. vi., p. 85 (illustrated), vol. lxiv.,p. 428 ; Nineteenth 
Century, vol. xxiv., p. 262 (by Goldwin Smith) ; Fraser's Maga- 
zine, vol. Ixxxii., p. 181; Westminster Review, January, 1853; 



GENERAL NOTE 12T 

North American Review, vol. xli., p. 231 (by Everett) ; Century, 
vol, vii., p. 721, vol. xxiv., -p. 709 (with fine portraits as frontis- 
pieces). In Education, vol. vi., p. 323, is an article on Webster as 
a schoolmaster. 

A rapid survey of Webster's life and work to the year 1813 may 
be found in McMaster's "History of the Peoj)le of the United 
States," vol. iv., pp. 213-216. 

5. Critical Estimates. — Estimates of Webster's literary and 
oratorical powers will be found in almost all of the works to 
which reference has been made. Criticisms of especial interest 
are E. P. Whipple's "Webster as a Master of English Style," 
prefixed to the "Great Speeches of Webster" (also in his 
' ' American Literature " ), and the article, " A Glance at Webster," 
by Judge Mellen Chamberlain in the Century Magazine, Septem- 
ber, 1893, p. 709. The student may also consult with profit 
Eichardson's "American Literature," vol. i., pp. 221-227, and 
Nichol's "American Literature," pp. 111-129. 

6. Portraits of Webster. — The best likeness of Webster at the 
age of forty is said by Judge Chamberlain to be the bust by 
Powers (reproduced in Webster's "Works," vol. ii.) ; the best 
likeness of him in his later years is said by the same authority 
to be the engraving in the Century Magazine, September, 1893. 
There is also a fine portrait in the same magazine for March, 1885. 
The following works contain portraits of various degrees of ex- 
cellence : Harvey's " Eeminiscences ; " Lanman's "Private Life 
of Webster ;" Knapp's "Memoir;" Lyman's "Public and Pri- 
vate Life of Webster ; " March's " Eeminiscences of Congress ; " 
"Works of Webster" (ed. of 1851), vols, i., ii., iv. ; Appleton's 
" Cyclopaedia of American Biography ; " T. W. Higginson's 
" Larger History of the United States," p. 445 (a fine reproduc- 
tion of Healy's painting in Faneuil Hall) ; W. C. Wilkinson's 
" Webster : An Ode " ( large paper edition) ; and Harper's Maga- 
zine, vol. vi., p. 85. The old daguerreotypes of Webster turn up 
now and then in unexpected places. Pupils should be encour- 
aged to inquire for them of their grandparents. 

7. Poems referring to Webster. — Webster is the subject of a 
poem by O. W. Holmes, written in 1856 on Webster's birthday, 
and of two of Whittier's best poems, — " Ichabod ! " and "The 
Lost Occasion." Lowell has an allusion to him in the " Biglow 



128 GENERAL NOTE 

Papers," No. ix. The most elaborate poetical composition of 
which Webster is the subject is '-Webster: An Ode," by Pro- 
fessor W. C. Wilkinson (Chas. Scribner's Sons). 

8. Parallel Reading. — The only s^Deeches by Webster which 
properly belong to the same class as those in the present collec- 
tion are the Plymouth Oration ("First Settlement of New Eng- 
land"), -'The Landing at Plymouth," the remarks on the 
death of Judge Story and Mr. Mason, and the speech on laying 
the corner-stone for the addition to the Capitol, in 1851. 

Specimens of commemorative oratory by others, worthy to be 
compared with these, are singularly rare. But two can be said 
to rival the first Bunker Hill address. These are the Funeral 
Oration put into the mouth of Pericles by the historian Thucy- 
dides ( in Book ii. ; 'Jowett's translation is the best), and the 
Gettysburg address by President Lincoln. 

Compositions dealing with some of the same subject-matter, 
though belonging to a different type of oratory, are Burke's 
"Account of the European Settlements in America," "Speech 
on American Taxation," and " Speech on Conciliation with 
America." 

9. Quotations from the Classics. — Webster quotes from Virgil's 
"Aeneid," vi. 726 (1 B. H. 19), from Horace's "Odes," L, ii., 45 
(1 D. H. 26), from Homer's "Iliad," xvii., 729, in Pope's transla- 
tion (1 B. II. 35), from Ovid's " Metamorphoses," ii., 13 (2 B. H. 
28), from Cicero's "Offices," i., 43 (.4. J". 23), and from Tacitus' 
" Life of Agricola," 45 {A. J. 60). 

10. Quota/ions from English Writers. — Webster quotes once 
from Milton's "Paradise Lost," v., 310 (1 i>. //. 13), and once 
(C. ^¥. 8j from Bishop Berkeley's " On the Prospect of Planting 
Arts and Learning in America" (omitting, however, the oft-quoted 
line, " Westward the course of empire takes its way"). There 
are two quotations from Shakespeare (.4. J. 8, 44), the source, of 
which the pupil may profitably discover for himself. 

11. Quotations from American Trr/7ers.— American writers are 
twice quoted (2 B. H. 40, C. W. 17). 

12. Biblical Allusions.— Ftxpressions drawn from the language 
of the bible, or suggested by scriptural passages, are found in 
four places (1 B. H. 6 ; .4. J. 44, 46 ; C. W. 13). Other expres- 
sions which echo biblical language more or less distinctly are 



GENERAL NOTE 129 

scattered np and down these orations. Let the pupil search 
them out. 

13. HiMorkal References : General. — Should the reader desire 
to identify a name or a place, or to refresh his memory regard- 
ing some event, he is recommended to make use of the following 
reference-books. They should not be permitted, however, to 
supplant consecutive reading of standard histories, such as are 
cited in ^g 14-22 below. 

(1) The Century " Cyclopaedia of Names" contains short, con- 
cise articles on persons and places. It is edited wdth scholarly 
care and is as accurate as so large a work can be ex^^ected to be. 

(2) J. F. Jameson's " Dictionary of United States History, 
1492-1881" (Puritan Pub. Co., Boston), though designed for 
popular use, is on the whole pretty well edited. Since the book 
is in one moderate-sized volume, most of the articles are of 
necessity short. 

(3) A recent work is, J. N. Larned's " History for Keady Kef- 
erence" (5 vols., Springfield, Mass.). It is a compilation of 
selections from standard authors, arranged under appropriate 
topics. Its greatest value is as a guide to historical literature. 

(4) Haydn's "Dictionary of Dates" (Harper) contains brief 
articles on an immense number of facts and events. 

14. References to Amei'ican History : Before the Revolution. — 
For a description of the voyage of Columbus the reader may 
consult Irving's "Life of Columbus," Bancroft's "History of 
America," and Higginson's "Young Folks' History," "Young 
Folks' American Explorers," and " Larger History of the United 
States." Higginson and Bancroft are authorities also on the ex- 
plorations and settlements in North America of the Si^anish, the 
French, and the English. On the Cabots and the Pilgrim Fa- 
thers, the latest views may be obtained by reading Higginson's 
"Larger History," chaps, iv. and vi., and by consulting the 
elaborate discussion in Justin Winsor's ' ' Narrative and Critical 
History of America," vol. ii. On the House of Burgesses, see 
Frothingham's " Rise of the Republic," i3p. 16, 17, and Ban- 
croft's "History," vol. i. On the French and Indian wars a 
fresh treatment is had in Higginson's " Larger History of the 
United States," chap, vii., under the title of "The Hundred 
Years' War." 



ISO GENERAL NOTE 

15. The Revolution. — Of the events leading to the revolution, 
that are mentioned by Webster, such as the writs of assistance, 
the trial of the British soldiers, the change in the government 
of Massachusetts and the Boston Port Bill, readable accounts 
may be found in Fiske's " American Eevolution," vol. i., pp. 
1-99 ; J. E. Green's " Short History of the English People," 
chap. X., section ii., Bancroft's "History," vol. iii., and Hig- 
ginson's "Larger History," chap. ix. More poj)ular in charac- 
ter is B. J. Lossing's "Field Book of the Eevolution." An 
elaborate treatment of the Eevolutionary period, adapted to the 
needs of the advanced student, may be had in Winsor's " Narra- 
tive and Critical History," vol. vi. 

16. Battle of Bunker Hill — The most simple and picturesque 
account of the battle is in the Eev. E. E. Hale's "Story of 
Massachusetts ; " the most detailed, in Frothingham's " History 
of the Siege of Boston." In Fiske's " American Eevolution," 
vol. i., pp. 136-146, and Bancroft's "History," vol. iv., chaps. 38- 
40, the narrative is made interesting, and in Lossing's " Field- 
Book of the Eevolution " it is given the advantage of unstinted 
illustration and word-painting. 

17. Joseph Warren. — A day in the life of Joseph Warren is 
the subject of a graphic narrative in Higginson's " Larger 
History," pp. 247-250. The engraving of Warren which accom- 
panies it reveals in some degree the secret of the love and con- 
fidence which this extraordinary man inspired in his contem- 
poraries. 

18. The Continental Congress. — A full account of the proceed- 
ings will be found in Bancroft's " History," vol. v., and Fiske's 
" American Eevolution," vol. i., chap. iii. ; a more picturesque 
account in Higginson's "Larger Histoiy." 

19. Speeches in the Continental Congress. — The speeches for and 
against the Declaration of Independence introduced by Web- 
ster into the oration on Adams and Jefferson, were by many of 
his hearers regarded as genuine extracts from the debates of the 
Continental Congress. In order to remove this false imi3ression 
the following letter written by Mr. Webster in answer to an in- 
quiry concerning the authenticity of John Adams's sj^eech, was 
published in the edition of 1851 : 



GENERAL NOTE 131 

"I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
of the 18th instant. Its contents hardly surprise me, as I have 
received very many similar communications. 

" Your inquiry is easily answered. The Congress of the Rev- 
olution sat with closed doors. Its proceedings were made 
known to the public, from time to time, by printing its journal ; 
but the debates were not published. So far as I know there is 
not existing, in print or manuscript, the speech, or any part or 
any fragment of the speech, delivered by Mr. Adams on the 
question of the Declaration of Independence. We only know, 
from the testimony of his auditors, that he spoke with remark- 
able ability and characteristic earnestness, 

" The day after the Declaration ^vas made, Mr. Adams, in 
writing to a friend, declared the event to be one that ' ought to 
be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of 
devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp 
and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and 
illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from 
this time forward, for evermore.' 

' ' And on the day of his death, hearing the noise of bells and 
cannon, he asked the occasion. On being reminded that it was 
' Independence Day,' he replied, ' Independence forever ! ' 
These expressions were introduced into the speech supposed 
to have been made by him. For the rest, I must be answer- 
able. The speech was written by me, in my house in Bos- 
ton, the day before the delivery of the Discourse in Faneuil 
Hall ; a poor substitute, I am sure it would appear to be, if we 
could now see the speech actually made by Mr. Adams on that 
transcendently important occasion." 

The opening sentence of the second fictitious speech was 
taken from a conversation between Adams and Jonathan Sewall, 
reported as follows by Mr. Adams himself : 

" Mr. Sewall invited me to take a walk with him, very early in 
the morning, on the great hill. In the course of our rambles, 
he very soon began to remonstrate against my going to Congress. 
He said, that ' Great Britain was determined on her system ; her 
power was irresistible, and would certainly be destructive to me, 
and to all those who should persevere in opposition to her de- 
signs.' I answered, ' that I knew Great Britain was determined 
on her system, and that very determination determined me on 
mine ; that he knew I had been constant and uniform in opposi- 
tion to all her measures ; that the die was now cast ; I had 
passed the Eubicon ; swim or sink, live or die, survive or perish 
w4th my country, was my unalterable determination.'" — "Works 
of John Adams," vol. iv., p. 8. 



132 GENERAL NOTE 

The opening of a si^eech actually delivered seems to have been 
very different. It is preserved for ns in a letter written by 
Adams in 1807 : 

" I remember very well what I did say; but I will previously 
state a fact as it lies in my memory, which may be somewhat ex- 
planatory of it. In the previous multiplied debates which we 
had upon the subject of independence, the delegates from New 
Jersey had voted against us ; their constituents were informed of 
it and recalled them, and sent us a new set on purpose to vote for 
independence. Among these were Chief-Justice Stockton and 
Dr. Witherspoou. In a morning when Congress met, we expected 
the question would be iDut and carried without any further de- 
bate ; because we knew we had a majority, and thought that argu- 
ment had been exhausted on both sides, as indeed it was, for 
nothing new was ever afterwards advanced on either side. But 
the Jersey delegates, appearing for the first time, desired that 
the question might be discussed. We observed to them that the 
question was so public, and had been so long discussed in pam- 
phlets, newspapers, and at every fireside, that they could not be 
uninformed and must have made up their minds. They said it 
was true they had not been inattentive to what had been passing 
abroad, but they had not heard the arguments in Congress, and 
did not incline to give their opinions until they should hear the 
sentiments of members there. Judge Stockton was most particu- 
larly importunate, till the members began to say 'Let the gentle- 
men be gratified,' and the eyes of the assembly were turned upon 
me, and several of them said, ' Come, Mr. Adams ; you have had 
the subject longer at heart than any of us, and you must recapit- 
ulate the arguments.' I w^aa somewhat confused at this personal 
application to me, and would have been very glad to be excused ; 
but as no other i^erson arose, after some time I said, ' This is the 
first time in my life when I seriously wished for the genius and 
eloquence of the celebrated orators of Athens and Eome : called 
in this unexj^ected and unprepared manner to exhibit all the argu- 
ments in favor of a measure the most important, in my judgment, 
that had ever been discussed in civil or political society, I had no 
art or oratory to exhibit, and could produce nothing but simple 
reason and plain common-sense. I felt myself oppressed by the 
wei,<;ht of the subject, and I believed if Demosthenes or Cicero 
had ever been called to deliberate on so great a question, neither 
would have relied on his own talents without a supplication to 
Minerva, and a sacrifice to Mercury or the God of Eloquence.' 
All this, to be sure, was but a flourish, and not, as I conceive, a 
very bright exordium ; but I felt awkwardly." 

It will be interesting to compare with the speech against the 
Declaration composed by Mr. Webster, an argument actually 



GENERAL NOTE 133 

made against it in the Congress by John Dickinson, this being 
the only portion of the debate which has come down to us in its 

entirety : 

"I value the love of my country as I ought, but I value my 
country more ; and I desire this illustrious assembly to witness 
the integrity, if not the policy, of my conduct. The first cam- 
paign will be decisive of the controversy. The Declaration will 
not strengthen us by one man, or by the least supply, while it 
may expose our soldiers to additional cruelties and outrages. 
Without some prelusory trials of our strength, we ought not to 
commit our country upon an alternative, where to recede would 
be infamy, and to j)ersist might be destruction. 

' ' No instance is recollected of a people without a battle fought, 
or an ally gained, abrogating forever their connection with a war- 
like commercial empire. It might unite the different j)arties in 
Great Britain against us, and it might create disunion among our- 
selves. 

' ' With other powers it would rather injure than avail us. Foreign 
aid will not be obtained but by our actions in the field, which are 
the only evidences of our union and vigor that will be respected. 
In the war between the United Provinces and Spain, France and 
England assisted the provinces before they declared themselves 
independent ; if it is the interest of any European kingdom to 
aid us, we shall be aided without such a declaration ; if it is not, 
we shall not be aided with it. Before such an irrevocable step 
shall be taken, we ought to know the disposition of the great 
powers, and how far they will i^ermit one or more of them to in- 
terfere. The erection of an independent empire on this continent 
is a phenomenon in the world ; its eff'ects will be immense, and 
may vibrate round the globe. How they may aff'ect, or be sup- 
posed to aff'ect, old establishments, is not ascertained. It is sin- 
gularly disrespectful to France to make the Declaration before 
her sense is known, as we have sent an agent expressly to inquire 
whether such a Declaration would be acceptable to her, and we 
have reason to believe he is now arrived at the Court of Versailles. 
The measure ought to be delayed till the common interests shall 
in the best manner be consulted by common consent. Besides, 
the door to accommodation with GreatBritain ought not to be shut, 
until we know what terms can be obtained from some competent 
power. Thus to break with her before we have compacted with 
another, is to make experiments on the lives and liberties of my 
countrymen, which I would sooner die than agree to make. At 
best, it is to throw us into the hands of some other power and to 
lie at mercy, for we shall have passed the river that is never to be 
repassed. We ought to retain the Declaration and remain masters 
of our own fame and fate." 



13 J: GENERAL NOTE 

20. Washington. — For the life and character of Washington, 
consult Irving's "Life of George Washington," Marshall's "Life 
of W^ashington," and Lodge's "Washington" in the American 
Statesmen Series. 

21. After the Revolution; Washington's Farewell Address. — 
The address is printed in full in Spauks's edition of the " Writ- 
ings of Washington," vol. xi., pp. 214-235. 

22. The Monroe Doctrine. — K brief statement of the mean- 
ing and origin of this measure may be found in Higginson's 
" Larger History," p. 403. The most detailed consideration of 
the subject is that given by President Gilman in his " Life of 
James Monroe," chap. viii. See also Webster's " Speech on the 
Panama Mission." 



B. SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS 

23. The Life of Webster. — [For the sources of Webster's biog- 
raphy, see I 4 above.] 1. Webster's i^arents, 2. Webster's 
school-days. 3. Webster at Dartmouth. 4. Webster as a school- 
master. 5. How Webster refused the clerkship. 6. Webster's 
Fourth of July orations. (For the Hanover speech see Loring's 
"Hundred Boston Orators," p. 683.) 7. How Webster was in- 
fluenced by Mason. 8. How Webster won his law-suits. 9. 
Webster's x)olitics. (On political parties at the beginning of the 
century, see Higginson's " Larger History," chaps, xiv.-xvi.) 10. 
Webster's first appearance in Congress. 11. Webster's attitude 
toward the war of 1812. 12. Story of the Dartmouth College 
Case. 13. The scene in the Supreme Court at the trial of this 
case. (See Lodge's ''Webster," p. 89, and Choate's '' Address at 
Dartmouth.") 14. How was this case connected with the Con- 
stitution ? 15. Effect of the Plymouth Oration. 16. What did 
Webster accomplish in his third congressional term? 17. Web- 
ster's reputation at the time the " First Bunker Hill Oration " 
was delivered. 18. Events in Webster's life between the first 
and the second Bunker Hill address. 19. Circumstances of 
the "Reply to Hayne." 20. Occasion of the "7th of March 
Speech." 21. Effect of this speech. 22. Was Webster lacking 
in moral courage ? 23. Why Webster was not nominated to the 



GENERAL NOTE 135 

2:)residency. 24. Webster's friends. 25. Public offices held by 
Webster. 

24. Personal Character Istics. — 1. Describe a portrait of Web- 
ster. 2. Compare two portraits of Webster, 3. Compare a por- 
trait of Webster with a portrait of Burke, of Pitt, of Fox, of 
Wendell Phillips, of Sumner, of Lincoln. 4. Webster's gestures. 
5. Character of Webster's voice. (See Curtis's "Life of Web- 
ster," vol. i., p. 249, note.) 6. Anecdotes illustrating the j^ower 
of Webster's personality. 

25. Webster's Opinions. — 1. Was Webster a j)rotectionist or a 
free-trader? 2. What claim had Webster to the title "De- 
fender of the Constitution ? " 3. What were Webster's views on 
slavery? 4. What did Webster think of paper money? 5. 
Webster's idea of a national bank. 6. Webster's opinion of the 
Monroe Doctrine. 7. Webster's opinion of classical literature. 

8. "^liyJWebster was opposed to secession^i 9. Webster's view 
o^the value of knowledge.^ 10: Webster's optimism. 11. Web- 

^_siLer^i2.oiicepti0n:--©f-patriatism. . 

26. The First Bunker Hill Oration.— 1. The scene during the 
address, described by an eye-witness. 2. Impressions of the 
speech related by a survivor of the battle. 3. Character of the 
audience. 4. Divisions and subdivisions of the oration. 5. Pur- 
pose of the introduction. (Compare with the introductions of 
the other orations.) 6. Appropriateness of the conclusion. 
(Compare with the conclusions of the other orations.) 7. Ls 
Lodge (p. 124) right in calling this oration " a succession of elo- 
quent fragments ? " 8. What parts may be most easily omitted ? 

9. Show that the second (or any other) paragraph cannot be 
omitted without disturbing the continuity and proportion of the 
whole. 10. What is the effect of putting the sixth paragra23h 
first? If this change is made, what other changes will be called 
for ? 11. Why is not the description of the battle in paragraph 
12 inserted after paragraph 20 ? 12. Function of paragraph 23. 
13. Management of parallel construction. 14. Employment of 
the topic-sentence. 15. Cases of inverted structure and reasons 
for them. 16. According to Professor Wendell ("English Com- 
position," p. 271), "there is no mere technical device for 
strengthening style more apt to be of value than the deliberate 
weakening of passages you ].ave written in your very strongest 



136 GENERAL NOTE 

way," Detect if you can, passages in this oration in which Web- 
ster, in order to strengthen his style, has deliberately weakened 
it. 17. In paragraph 7 why does Webster say " Inhor may look 
up " instead of " the laborer may look up?" Which is the more 
effective form of statement *? 18. W^3ster's„us_e of '' only." 19. 
Webster's use of " and which," " but which," without a preced- 
ing relative. 20. Webster's use of the word "respectable." (See 
the Nation for July 4, 1895.) 21. Discuss the changes made 
in the later text and show in what respect they are improve- 
ments. 22. To what peculiarities of arrangement is due the 
:diythm of Webster's prose ? 

27. Historical Topics: First BunJcer Hill Oration. — 1. The true 
story of Columbus. 2. In what sense were the English Colonies 
founded on " human knowledge" (par. 4) ? 4. Why may not the 
reference in paragraph 4 to "another ancient and early colony," 
be to the Viginia settlement on the James Eiver ? 5. What was the 
size and importance of our navy in 1825 (par. 38) ? 6. Changes 
in Euroi^ean politics brought about by the French Eevolution 
(par. 9). 7. Origin and meaning of the Monroe Doctrine. 8. 
Description of the Battle of Bunker Hill by an eye-witness in 
Boston. Description by a participant in the Battle (see ap^Dendix 
to Frothingham's "Siege of Boston"). 9. What jpart did the 
ships take in the battle ? 10. Part taken by Prescott ? by Put- 
nam? Outcome of the battle. 11. Description of the portrait of 
Gen. Warren in Higginson's "Larger History," p. 247. 12. Why 
was Warren regarded at this time witT;i so much love and venera- 
tion? 13. Eesults of the battle of Trenton? of Monmouth? of 
Yorktown ? of Camden ? of Bennington ? of Saratoga ? 14. How 
was *' The act for altering the government of the Province" (par. 
18) carried into effect? 15. Provisions and xDurpose of the Boston 
Port Bill. 16. Origin and constitution of the Continental Con- 
gress. 17. What were the tidings from Lexington and Concord 
(par. 19) ? 18. What appeals, resolutions, and addresses (par. 21) 
had been made by the Colonies? 19. Part taken by Gen. Lafa- 
yette in the Eevolutionary war. 20. How is the use of the word 
"incredible" (par. 25) appropriate in its application to the dili- 
gence of Prescott ? 21. Part taken in the Eevolution by Greene ? 
by Gates ? by Sullivan ? by Lincoln ? 

28. Historical Topics : Second Bunker Hill Oration. — 1. Is Web- 



GENERAL NOTE 137 

ster's explanation (pars. 12, 20) of tlie motives of the battle tlie 
true one? 2, The effect of news of the battle on the various 
colonies. 3. Attempts at colonizing by the English, under Henry 
VII. (par. 26). 4. The enterprises and adventures of Ealeigh 
(par. 27). 5. Story of the voyage of the Mayflower (par. 28). 
6. Difference between those who settled New England and those 
who settled Virginia. 7. How did the French and Indian wars 
serve to unite the interests of the Colonies (par. 29) ? 8. Nature 
and importance of the Virginia House of Burgesses (pars. 38, 41). 

9. Powers of the governors of the early New England Colonies. 

10. Meaning and history of the habeas corpus. 11. In what colo- 
nies were the rights of jDrimogeniture recognized (par. 39) ? 12. 
Washington's education (par. 53). 13. Influence of Washington 
in the framing of the Constitution. 

29. HistoiHcal Topics : Adams and Jefferson. — 1. Part taken by 
James Otis in the Revolution (par. 15). 2. Origin and History of 
the Continental Congress. 3. Adams's part in the Congress. 4. 
How the Declaration of Independence was composed and modi- 
fied. (A fac-simile of the original draft, with Franklin's and 
Adams's interlineations, and indication of the parts stricken out 
by the Congress, may be found in the " Writings of Jefferson," 
vol. 1). 5. Narrative of the signing of the Declaration. 



LOiVGMANS, green; ^^ CO.' S PUBLIC ATTONS. 
EPOCHS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

MESSRS. LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. have the pleasure to state 
that they are now publishing a short series of books treating of the history 
of America, under the general title Epochs of American History. The 
series is under the editorship of Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart, Assistant 
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size and style to the page of the volumes in Messrs. Longmans' series, 
' Epochs of Modern History,' with full marginal analysis, working bibliogra- 
phies, maps, and index. The volumes are issued separately, and each is 
complete in itself. The volumes now ready provide a continuous history 
of the United States from the foundation of the Colonies to the present 
time, suited to and intended for class use as well as for general reading and 
reference. 

\* The volumes of this series already isszied have beeti adopted for use as text- 
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I. THE COLONIES, 1492-1750. 

By Reuben Gold Thw^aites, Secretary of the State Historical Society of 
Wisconsin; author of " Historic Waterways," etc. With four colored 
maps. pp. xviii.-3or. Cloth. $1.25. 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 

*' I beg leave to acknowledge your courtesy in sending me a copy of the first 
volume in the series of ' Epochs of American History,' which I have read with 
great interest and satisfaction. I am pleased, as everyone must be, with the 
mechanical execution of the book, with the maps, and with the fresh and valua- 
ble 'Suggestions' and 'References.' .... The work itself appears to 
me to be quite remarkable for its comprehensiveness, and it presents a vast 
array of subjects in a way that is admirably fair, clear and orderly." — Professor 
Moses Coit Tyler, Ithaca, N. Y. 

WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 
" It is just the book needed for college students, not too brief to be uninter- 
esting, admirable in its plan, and well furnished with references to accessible 
authorities."— Professor Richard A. Rice, Williamstown, Mass. 

VASSAR COLLEGE. 

" Perhaps the best recommendation of ' Thwaites' American Colonies ' is 
the fact that the day after it was received I ordered copies for class-room use. 
The book is admirable."— Professor Lucy M. Salmon, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 

" All that could be desired. This volume is more like a fair treatment of the 
whole subject of the colonies than any work of the sort yet produced.'' 

— The Critic. 

" The subject is virtually a fresh one as approached by Mr. Thwaites. It is 
a pleasure to call especial attention to some most helpful bibliographical notes 
provided at the head of each chapter '' — The Nation. 



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EPOCHS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

11. FORMATION OF THE UNION, 1750-1829. 

By Albert Bushnell Hart, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History ;n 
Harvard University, Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
Author of "Introduction to the Study of Federal Government," 
"Epoch Maps," etc. With five colored maps. pp. XX.-278. Cloth, 

$1.25. 

The second volume of the Epochs of American History aims to follow 
out the principles laid down for "The Colonies," — the study of causes 
rather than of events, the development of the American nation out of scattered 
and inharmonious colonies. The throwing off of English control, the growth 
out of narrow political conditions, the struggle against foreign domination, and 
the extension of popular government, are all parts of the uninterrupted process 
of the Formation of the Union. 

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" The large and sweeping treatment of the subject, which shows the true re- 
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itself, is a real addition to the literature of the subject ; while the bibliography 
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Sheldon Barnes, Palo Alto, Cal. 

" It is a careful and conscientious study of the period and its events, and 
should find a place among the text-books of our public schools." 

— Boston Transcript. 

" Professor Hart has compressed a vast deal of information into his volume, 
and makes many things most clear and striking. His maps, showing the terri- 
torial growth of the United States, are extremely interesting." 

— Xciu York Times. 

" . . The causes of the Revolution are clearly and cleverly condensed into 
a few pages. . . The maps in the work are singularly useful even to adults. 
There are five of these, which are alone worth the price of the volume." 

— Magazine of American History. 

" The formation period of our nation is treated wdth much care and with 
great precision. Each chapter is prefaced with copious references to authori- 
ties, which are valuable to the student who desires to pursue his reading more 
extensively. There are five valuable maps showing the growth of our country 
by successive stages and repeated acquisition of territory." 

— Boston yidvcrtiser. 

" Dr. Hart is not only a master of the art of condensation, ... he is 
what is even of greater importance, an interpreter of history. He perceives 
the logic of historic events ; hence, in his condensation, he does not neglect 
proportion, and more than once he gives the student valuable clues to the 
solution of historical problems." — Atlantic Monthly. 

"A valuable volume of a valuable series. The author has written with a 
full knowledge of his subject, and we have little to say except in praise." 

— English Historical Review. 



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EPOCHS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



Ill, DIVISION AND RE-UNION, 1829-1889. 

By WooDROW Wilson, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Jurisprudence in 
Princeton College ; Author of " Congressional*Government," "The 
State — Elements of Historical and Practical Politics," etc., etc vViih 
five colored Maps. 346 pages. Cloth, $1.25. 

"We regret that we have not space for more quotations from this uncom 
monly strong, impartial, interesting book. Giving only enough facts to 
elucidate the matter discussed, it omits no important questions. It furnislies 
the reader clear-cut views of the right and the wrong of them all. It gives ad- 
mirable pen-portraits of the great personages of the period with as much free- 
dom from bias, and as much pains to be just, as if the author were delineating 
Pericles, or Alcibiades, Sulla, or Caesar. Dr. Wilson has earned the gratitude of 
seekers after truth by his masterly production." — A^. C. University Magaziiie. 

" This admirable little volume is one of the few books which nearly meet our 
ideal of history. It is causal history in the truest sense, tracing the workings of 
latent influences and far-reaching conditions of their outcome in striking fact, 
yet the whole current of events is kept in view, and the great personalities of 
the time, the nerve-centers of history, live intensely and in due proportion in 
these pages. We do not know the equal of this book for a brief and trnst- 
w^orthy, and, at the same time, a brilliantly written and sufficient history of these 
sixty years. We heartily commend it, not only for general reading, but as an 
admirable text-book." — Post- Grad/f ate and Woosier Quarterly. 

" Considered as a general history of the United States from 1829 to 1889, 
his book is marked by excellent sense of proportion, extensive knowledge, im- 
partiality of judgment, unusual power of summarizing, and an acute political 
sense. Few writers can more vividly set forth the views of parties." 

— Atlantic Monthly. 

" Students of United States history may thank Mr. Wilson for an extreme- 
ly clear and careful rendering of a period very difficult to handle . . . they 
will find themselves materially aided in easy comprehension of the political 
situation of the country by the excellent maps."— A^. F Times. 

" Professor Wilson writes in a clear and forcible style. . . . The bibli- 
ographical references at the head of each chapter are both well selected and 
well arranged, and add greatly to the value of the work, which appears to be 
especially designed for use in instruction in colleges and preparatory schools." 

— Vale Review. 

" It is written in a style admirably clear, vigorous, and attractive, a thorough 
grasp of the subject is shown, and the development of the theme is lucid and 
orderly, while the tone is judicial and fair, and the deductions sensible and 
dispassionate— so far as we can see. ... It would be difficult to construct 
a better manual of the subject than this, and it adds greatly to the value of this 
useful series." — Hartford Courant. 

". . . One of the most valuable historical works that has appeared in 
many years. The dehcate period of our country's history, with which this 
work is largely taken up, is treated by the author with an impartiality that is 
almost xm\(\\x&."—Cohimbia Law Times. 



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LO.VGAJAA'S, GREEA^ &^ CO.'S P UBLICATJ ONS. 

A STUDENT'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from 
the Earliest Times to 1885. 

By Samuel Rawson Gardiner, M.A., LL.D., Fellow of All Souls 
College, Oxford, etc.; Author of "The History of England from the 
Accession of James I. to 1642," etc. Illustrated under the superintend- 
ence of Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, Assistant Secretary of the Society 
of Antiquaries, and with the assistance in the choice of Portraits of 
Mr. George Scharf, C.B., F.S.A., who is recognized as the highest 
authority on the subject. In one Volume, with 378 Illustrations and 
full Index. Crown 8vo, cloth, plain, $3.00. 

T/ie book is also published in thr'ee Volu^nes {each tvith Index and 
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Crown 8vo, $1.20. 
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Crown 8vo, $1.20. 
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Crown 8vo, $1.20. 

V Gardiner's "Student's History of England," througli Part IX. (to 
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requirements for admission in this subject ; and tbe ENTIRE work is made 
tbe basis for English history study in the University. 

YALE UNIVERSITY. 

" Gardiner's ' Student's History of England ' seems to me an admirable 
short history.'' — Prof. C. H. Smith, New Haven, Conn. 

TRINITY COLLEGE, HARTFORD. 
"It is, in my opinion, by far the best advanced school history of England 
that I have ever seen. It is clear, concise, and scientific, and, at the same time, 
attractive and interesting. The illustrations are very good and a valuable 
addition to the book, as they are not mere pretty pictures, but of real historical 
and archaeological interest." — Prof. Henry Ferguson. 

"A unique feature consists of the very numerous illustrations. They 
throw light on almost every phase of English life in all ages. . . . Never, 
p.-rhaps, in such a treatise has pictorial illustration been used with so good 
effect. The alert teacher will find here ample material for useful lessons by 
leading the pupil to draw the proper inferences and make the proper interpre- 
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esting. There is no lack of precision ; and, in the selection of the details, the 
hand of the scholar thoroughly conversant with the source and with the results 
of recent criticism is plainly revealed." — The Ahition, N. Y. 

" . . . It is illustrated by pictures of real value ; and when accompanied 
by the companion ' Atlas of English History' is all that need be desired for its 
special purpose."— 77/^ Chui chman, N. Y. 

••■^*.-^ prospectus and specimen pages of G ar diner'' s '■'■ Studenf s History 
of I-inglatid'''' Tuill be sent free on application to the publishers. 



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LONGMANS, GREEN, &- CO.' S PUBLICATIONS, 



LONGMANS' SCHOOL GRAMMAR. 

By David Salmon. Part I., Parts of Speech ; Part II., Classification 

and Inflection ; Part III., Analysis of Sentences ; Part IV,, History 

and Derivation. With Notes for Teachers and Index. New Edition, 

Revised. With Preface by E. A. Allen, Professor of English in the 

University of Missouri. i2mo, 272 pages. 75 cents. 

"... One of the best working grammars we have ever seen, and this 
applies to all its parts. It is excellently arranged and perfectly graded. Part 
IV., on History and Derivation, is as beautiful and interesting as it is valuable 
— but this might be said of the whole book."— New York Teacher. 

" The Grammar deserves to supersede all others with which we are ac- 
quainted." — N. Y. Nation, July 2, 1891. 

PREFACE TO AMERICAN EDITION. 

It seems to be generally conceded that English grammar is worse taught 
and less understood than any other subject in the school course. This is, 
doubtless, largely due to the kind of text-books used, which, for the most part, 
require methods that violate the laws of pedagogy as well as of language. 
There are, however, two or three English grammars that are admirable com- 
mentaries on the facts of the language, but, written from the point of view of 
the scholar rather than of the learner, they fail to awaken any interest in the 
subject, and hence are not serviceable for the class-room. 

My attention was first called to Longmans' School Grammar by a favorable 
notice of it in the Nation. In hope of finding an answer to the inquiry of 
numerous teachers for " the best school grammar," I sent to the Publishers for 
a copy. An examination of the work, so far from resulting in the usual dis- 
appointment, left the impression that a successful text-book in a field strewn 
with failures had at last been produced. For the practical test of the class- 
room, I placed it in the hands of an accomplished grammarian, who had tried 
several of the best grammars published, and he declares the results to be most 
satisfactory. 

The author's simplicity of method, the clear statement of facts, the orderly 
arrangement, the wise restraint, manifest on every page, reveal the scholar and 
practical teacher. No one who had not mastered the language in its early his- 
torical development could have prepared a school grammar so free from sense- 
less rules and endless details. The most striking feature, ininimum of precept, 
maximum of example, will commend itself to all teachers who follow rational 
methods. In this edition, the Publishers have adapted the illustrative sentences 
to the ready comprehension of American pupils, and I take pleasure in recom- 
mending the book, in behalf of our mother tongue, to the teachers of our Pub- 
lic and Private Schools. 

Edward A. Allen. 
University of Missouri, May, 1891. 

MR. HALE'S school, BOSTON. 

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school, and like them both very much indeed. They are the best books of the 
kind I have ever seen, and supply a want I have felt for a good many years," — 
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L O.YGMA NS, GREEN, ^ COrS P UBLICA TIONS. 

LONGMANS' SCHOOL G^KMMNK.—OPINIOXS. 
girls' high school, boston, mass. 

'' When you put Longmans' School Grammar in my hands, some year or 
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tion and approval. The exigencies of the boy's school arrangements inter- 
cepted that course in grammar and caused the book to be laid aside. To-day 
I have taken the book and have examined it all, from cover to cover. It i^ 
snnply a perfect grammar. Its beginnings are made with utmost gentleness 
and reasonableness, and it goes at least quite as far- as in any portion of our 
public schools course it is, for the present, desirable to think of going. The 
author has adjusted his book to the very best conceivable methods of teaching, 
and goes hand in hand with the instructor as a guide and a help. Grammar 
should, so taught, become a pleasure to teacher and pupil. Especially do I 
relish the author's pages of ' Notes for Teachers," at the end of the book. The 
man who could write these notes should enlarge them into a monograph on the 
teaching of English Grammar. He would, thereby, add a valuable contribu- 
tion to our stock of available pedagogic helps. I must add in closing, that 
while the book in question has, of course, but small occasion to touch disputed 
points of English Grammar, it never inciirs the censure that school grammars 
are almost sure to deserve, of insufficient acquaintance with modern linguistic 
science. In short, the writer has shown himself scientifically, as well as peda- 
gogically, altogether competent for his task." 

— Principal Samuel Thurber. 

high school, fort WAYNE, IND. 

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the best English Grammar that I have ever seen for children from twelve to 
fifteen years of age. It is excellent in matter and method. Every page shows 
the hand of a wise and skilful teacher. The author has been content to present 
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intelligible and so interesting from start to finish that only the genius of dulness 
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language, no facts at war with the definitions. There are other grammars that 
are more ''complete " and as correct in teaching, but not one to be compared 
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intelligence.'' — PRINCIPAL C. T. Lane. 

HIGH school, MINOOKA, ILL. 

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aflopted for use in our classes over a year since. Its strong points are simplic- 
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\* A Prospectus showing cofttcnts and spcc'nticn pages may be had of the Pub- 
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LONGMANS, GREEN, &> CO.' S PUBLICATIONS. 
LONGMANS' SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY. 

By George G. Chisholm, M.A., B. Sc, Author of "Handbook of Com- 
mercial Geography," "A Smaller Commercial Geography," etc., etc., 
and C. H. Leete, A.M., Ph.D., Fellow of the American Geographical 
Society. Fourth edition, revised, large i2mo, with 70 Illustrations. 384 
pages. $1.25. 

The aim of this text-book is to present in an attractive form those facts of 
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know, and are most effective as discipline. All countries and regions of the 
world are, therefore, not treated upon a uniform plan or according to a rigid 
outline, but that which is most distinctive and characteristic in each is presented 
with due relief. And, in order that pupils may realize that to understand is in 
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*^ A descriptive circular of the book and of the Co7npanion Atlas and Book 0/ 
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shall be pleased to introduce it." — T. A. Futrall, Marianna, Ark. 

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"... Find it an excellent book. . . . It is striking and interesting — 
different from any work on the subject I have ever seen.'' — A. P. Montague. 

"The closing paragraph of the prospectus is much closer to the opinion of 
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pupils of intelligence, and will be highly appreciated by all teachers imbued 
with a spirit for teaching real geography, not attempting to supersede their 
functions by dictating the length of the daily tasks or the questions that shall 
be asked, but furnishing a body of material so selected, arranged, and pre- 
sented that its perusal is at once pleasurable, suggestive, and of substantial 
value.' This is perfectly true. . . . On the whole the book is remarkably 
successful." — Natio7i, N. Y. 

" This book is the forerunner of a change which must speedily be effected 
in geographical teaching, and is itself a product of the movement for reform in 
England, which originated with the Geographical Society." 

— lVisconsi7i yournal of Education. 

" . . . Probably the best book of the kind ever published in our language, 
and ought to help in improving the instruction of our schools in geography. 
Messrs. Chisholm and Leete's book is valuable for its method, and it is this fact 
which entitles it to the attention of teachers. " — Boston Beacon. 

" It ha's a system of cross references that is very valuable and constantly 
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LONGMANS' NEW SCHOOL ATLAS. Consisting 
of 28 quarto and 10 octavo Colored Maps (and 20 In- 
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Edited by G. G. Chisholm, M.A,, B.Sc, and C. H. Leete, A.M., 
Ph.D. Engraved by Edward Stanford. With a very full Index of 
over 100,000 Names. Imp. 8vo. $1.50. 

Longmans' New School Atlas is intended, as its name implies, for use in 
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and facts. 

With this end in view three groups of maps have been prepared : first, nine 
maps exhibiting the leading facts oi physical geography and huma?i distribution 
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political, geological, climatic, industrial, historical, and on population ; and 
third, twenty-one maps (and seventeen insets) oi other parts of the world in 
ih&ix physical and political aspects. 

The Geological Map of the United States and Canada was revised by Mr. 
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" Longmans' ' New School Atlas ' is a thoroughly prepared and accurate 
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or commercial facts concerning all countries." — The Chautauquan. 

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the usual geographical details, there are maps to illustrate the ocean currents, 
magnetic variation, density of population, and geological structure. No atlas 
of equal practical value has been issued." 

— Professor Nicholas Murray Butler, Educational Revieio, N. Y. 

" The work of presenting the physical and political features of the different 
countries has been done most thoroughly and admirably. Tlie value in the 
school-room of those, however, that give the density of population, vegetation, 
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great. For a school atlas we doubt if there is anything to surpass it." 

— School yozirnal, 

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LONGMANS' ENGLISH CLASSICS 

EDITED BY 

GEOEGE EICE CARPENTER, A.B. 

PROFESSOR OP RHETORIC AND ENGLISH COMPOSITION IN COLUMBIA COLLEGE 



DANIEL WEBSTEE 



FIEST BUNKEE HILL OEATION 



LONGMANS' ENGLISH CLASSICS 

EDITED BY 

GEORGE RICE CARPENTER, A.B. 

PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND ENGLISH COMPOSITION IN 
COLUMBIA COLLEGE 

WitJi Full Notes, Introductions, Bihliocjva'pliies, and Other 
Ejcplanatory and Illustratim Matter. Crown 8w, Cloth. 

1. IRVING'S TALES OF A TRAVELLER. With Introduction 

by Professor Brander Matthews, of Columbia College, 
and Notes by the Editor of the Series. 

2. GEORGE ELIOT'S SILAS MARNER. Edited by Professor 

Robert Herrick, of the University of Chicago. 

3. SCOTT'S WOODSTOCK. Edited by Professor Bliss Perrv, 

of Princeton College. 

4. DEFOE'S HISTORY OF THE PLAGUE IN LONDON. 

Edited by Professor G. R. Carpenter, of Columbia Col- 
lege. 

5. WEBSTER'S FIRST BUNKER HILL ORATION, together 

with other Addresses relating to the Revolution. Edited 
by Professor P. N. Scott, of the University of Michigan. 

C. MACAULAY'S ESSAY ON MILTON. Edited by J. G. 
Croswell, Esq., Head-Master of the Brearley School, 
formerly Assistant Professor in Harvard University. 

7. SHAKSPERE'S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Edited 

by Professor G. P. Baker, of Harvard University. 

8. MILTON'S L'ALLEGRO, IL PENSEROSO, COMUS, AND 

LYCIDAS. Edited by Professor W. P. Trent, of tlie Uni- 
versity of the South. 

9. SHAKSPERE'S MERCHANT OF VENICE. Edited by Pro- 

fessor Francis B. Giimmere, of Ilaverford College. 

Other volumes are in prejmratlon. 



1 



J 



u 







DANIEL WEBSTER 
(After a daguerreotype) 



